Bobcats Head To Ypsilanti For Mac
• The Central Michigan women's basketball team will play a Mid-American Conference game on Saturday (2 p.m.) at Eastern Michigan. • The Chippewas snapped a two-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 64-59 home win over MAC East-leading Ohio. • CMU sits third in the MAC West, one game behind. What, No Road Trip to Ypsilanti? Ohio has some questions, especially on their defense, but they are a contender to win the MAC East in large part due to their schedule. The Bobcats four conference road games are against Buffalo, Akron, Central Michigan and Bowling Green. Two weeks after later the Bobcats head to Akron. Like the Bulls, the.
Follow Akron Basketball on, and Follow Coach Groce on Akron Zips (8-8, 1-3) vs Eastern Michigan (10-7, 1-3) Tuesday, Jan. 16. Convocation Center. Ypsilanti, Mich. 7 PM ET. ESPN3 Eastern Michigan Head Coach Rob Murphy(Central State '96) Overall Record: 117-104 (7th Season) Record at EMU: 117-104 (7th Season) MAC Record: 52-57 (7th Season) AKRON ZIPS Head Coach (Taylor '94) Overall Record: 188-139 (10th Season) Record at Akron: 8-8 (First Season) MAC Record at Akron: 1-3 (First Season) Overall MAC Record: 35-33 (at Ohio and Akron) All-Time Series Akron Leads: 28-20 - Groce vs. EMU 0-0 (2-2 Overall) Last Meeting: Akron 79, Eagles, 62 at Quicken Loans Arena on March 9, 2017 Broadcast TV/Video: ESPN3 – Ryan Wooley (PxP) and Kyler Ludlow (Analyst) Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats Radio: Akron-IMG Sports Network - Steve French (PxP) and Joe Dunn (Analyst) WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips What' s Ahead The Akron basketball team heads to Ypsilanti, Mich. To open this week's Mid-American Conference action.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, the Zips are scheduled to play Eastern Michigan at the EMU Convocation Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN3 with Ryan Wooley calling the action and Kyler Ludlow providing analysis.
Akron is looking for its first road win as the Zips and the Eagles are both 1-3 in league play this season. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats or by Zips' radio. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-IMG Sports Network SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship) with Steve French calling the action and Joe Dunn providing analysis. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to the contest. The free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.
The Akron-Eastern Michigan Series Tuesday's game marks the 49th meeting in series history between Akron and Eastern Michigan, and fifth meeting for a Groce coached squad. Akron holds a 28-20 all-time series advantage while Groce is 2-2 overall against the Eagles. The Zips have won 18 of the last 21 meetings, including five straight games. The Zips won both regular-season meetings last year 70-63 on Jan. 20, at Rhodes Arena and 87-76 on Feb.
10, at the EMU Convocation Center. The Zips and the Eagles played a third time during the 2016-17 season.
Akron met Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinal of the MAC Tournament for the second-straight season. 1 ranked Zips defeated the No. 8 ranked Eagles, 79-62, at Quicken Loans Arena on March 9, 2017. In 2015-16, Akron opened with a 92-88 win at Rhodes Arena on Jan. 19, followed by a 65-63 come-from-behind victory in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament on March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena. Akron is 5-0 in the MAC Tournament against the Eagles.
Scouting the Eagles Eastern Michigan enters the contest with a 10-7 overall record and 1-3 in MAC play. The Eagles opened MAC play with a two-game skid, falling at Ball State (72-62) and in overtime against Bowling Green (75-71). EMU bounced back with a win against Central Michigan (79-74), but dropped their last game at Northern Illinois (72-66). This season, EMU is 8-1 (1-1 MAC) at home and 2-6 (0-2 MAC) on the road. EMU has three players scoring in double figures led by Elijah Minnie with 16.9 points on 45.5 percent shooting from the floor (97-of-213) and 32.6 percent from downtown with a team-high 31 made 3-point FG (31-of-95). Minnie leads the squad at the free throw line, shooting 87.3 percent (62-of-71), and in blocked shots (28) while ranking second in rebounds (6.1 rebs/g, 103 total) and steals (32).
He adds 25 assists to the stat sheet. James Thompson IV follows with 15.7 points per game. Thompson leads the Eagles in FG made (106), FG percentage (.671, 106-of-158) and rebounds (199). Of his 11.7 rebounds per game, Thompson secured 121 defensive boards and 78 offensive rebounds. He is second in blocked shots (24) and adds almost a steal per game (15).
Paul Jackson rounds out the double-digit scoring, averaging 15.6, while teammate Tim Bond scores 9.8 points per night on average. Jackson leads the squad in assists (79) while shooting 43.5 percent from the floor (97-of-223) with 14 made triples. Bond shoots 48.1 percent from the floor (64-of-133) and 34.7 percent from long range (17-of-49) with a team-best 44 steals. In addition, Jordan Nobles is a threat from deep, draining a second-best 19 triples on 52 attempts (.365).
Defensively, EMU limits opponents 70.5 points a night on 42.0 percent shooting from the field and 34.8 percent from downtown with 8.2 made 3-pt FG per game. The Eagles caused 265 turnovers (15.6 tpg) while collecting 159 steals (9.4 stl/g) and 99 blocked shots (5.8 blk/g). On the glass, Eastern Michigan outrebounds its opponents 608-600 for a slim 0.5 margin. E-MAN Season Cut Short On Wednesday morning (1/10), sophomore frontcourt player (Houston, Texas) received difficult news. Due to a medical condition that required surgery, Olojakpoke will miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Full details will be disclosed at a later date. Statement from Akron Basketball head coach on: 'Yesterday (1/10), had successful open-heart surgery.
He is resting and expecting a full recovery. We fully anticipate this recovery will require him to miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. The Zips basketball family is committed to assisting E-Man in his return to full health. We ask to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
Please allow E-Man and the entire Olojakpoke family the privacy they deserve at this time.' #EManStrong Last Time Out Against Eastern Michigan A 14-2 second half run over a span of 2:15 ignited the University of Akron men's basketball team to a 79-62 victory past eighth-seeded Eastern Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 9, at Quicken Loans Arena. The Zips (25-7) advance to the semifinal round for a league-record 12th consecutive season. Senior (Cincinnati, Ohio) directed the Zips with a game-high 24-point, 10-rebound and three-block effort, including scoring 15 points in the second half, to register his seventh double-double of the season. Akron also garnered 19 and 11 points, respectively, from junior (Las Vegas, Nev.) and sophomore (Akron, Ohio). James Thompson IV led the Eagles recording a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 16 rebounding. Joining Thompson with double-figure scoring efforts was Ray Lee, Tim Bond and Ty Toney with 17, 11 and 10 tallies, respectively.
The Zips finished the affair shooting 45.5 percent from the field, including a 48.3 percent mark in the second half. Akron also connected on 9-of-28 attempts (32.1 percent) from beyond the arc. The Zips made 20 attempts at the charity stripe, including Robotham nailing 11-of-12 shots at the free throw line. Despite hitting 42.3 percent of their second-half shots, the Eagles concluded the tilt shooting 36.8 percent from the field. The Zips were outrebounded, 36-35, despite outhustling Eastern Michigan on the glass in the second half, 20-12.Akron made the most of 13 turnovers by the Eagles as the Zips registered an 18-10 margin in points off turnovers, while also collecting a 10-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Zips in the MAC The Zips have posted a 46-23 mark (.667) in the last 69 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 5-2 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 98-44 in the regular season against the West Division (.690), including winners of 41 of the last 51 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season. Akron is 49-10 at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule (.831).
UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 155-68 overall (.695), including a 94-17 mark in MAC play at home (.847). The Zips' 155 wins are the most in the league during that stretch.
The Zips have won 75 of their last 105 MAC games (.714). Akron is 27-10 in the MAC Tournament in the last 12 seasons, going 21-6 in its last 27 tournament games.
The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year and have made nine MAC Tournament title game appearances in the last 11 seasons with an unprecedented 12-straight semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game and semifinal appearances are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-10 at Quicken Loans Arena. The Zips won 12 consecutive regular season MAC games, dating back to the 2015-16 season. However, the 2012-13 Zips won 19-straight games and rattled-off 13 consecutive league games during that run. Kent State owns the MAC regular season consecutive win record (21), and single-season record (17-1).
In 2016-17, the Akron Zips finished 14-4 in league play.Akron averaged 76.8 points per game in the MAC while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.7 from long distance with 10.0 made 3-pointers a game. The Zips averaged 14.8 assists (266), 10.7 turnovers per game (193), 5.8 steals (104), and 3.1 blocked shots (56), but were slightly outrebounded 604-615 in league play. Home Sweet Home Akron is 8-1 at Rhodes Arena under first-year head coach, who became the third Akron coach since 1940 to win his first six home games in his first season as head coach.
The Zips rattled off seven straight wins at the JAR before falling in the MAC home opener to Buffalo. The Zips set the all-time longest home winning streak record at James. Rhodes Arena with 30 consecutive wins during the 2015-17 seasons, replacing the 26-game run the Zips made during the 1985-87 seasons under head coach Bob Huggins. The streak ranked No. 2 in the NCAA.
In 34 seasons at the JAR, the Zips own a 388-120 (.764) all-time record. In the last 13 seasons, Akron has posted a 181-25 (.879) record at Rhodes Arena. Building on a Career Week Last week, Freshman guard led the Zips men's basketball team through a 1-1 week en route to lifting Akron to its first Mid-American Conference win by draining a game-winning 3-pointer against Bowling Green. Cotton led Akron's scoring effort in both games, scoring a career-high 23 points twice last week. For the week, Cotton scored 46 points (23 pts/g) on 11-of-19 (.579) shooting from the field and 6-of-11 (.545) from deep.
He buried 18-of-22 (.818) free throws to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Against Bowling Green, Cotton buried the game-winner from long distance with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation. He led Akron to an 80-78 victory with a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 (.667) shooting from the floor which included a 5-of-7 (.714) performance from downtown.
Cotton added a 6-of-7 (.857) effort from the free throw line to go along with three rebounds and three assists. The Zips opened the week with an 87-65 loss to Buffalo as Cotton posted a team-high 23 points on 5-of-10 (.500) shooting from the field.
Bobcats Head To Ypsilanti For Macbook Pro
Cotton made a career-best 15 trips to the free throw line and connected with a career-high 12 bonus buckets for an 80.0 percent showing from the charity stripe. He added two steals, two rebounds, and an assist. Chasing 1,000 Points is currently 152 points shy of reaching the 1,000 career points milestone. During his three-year career at Oregon State, Duvivier scored 623 points for the Beavers. Currently, Duvivier has posted 225 points for Akron, bringing his career total to 848 points. In the Spotlight Sophomore guard/wing (Houston, Texas) opened the 2017-18 season as a starter and used the opportunity to lead the Zips to a season-opening win over Cleveland State with a (then) career-high 20 points.
He topped that performance in the second game of the season, dropping 32 points and knocking down a career-best eight 3-pointers to lead Akron to a 76-59 win over UT Martin. Utomi is the only Zip to score double digits in 14 games with five 20-plus point performances. Utomi currently leads the team's scoring efforts with 16.2 points per game, shooting 43.8 percent from the floor (85-of-194) and 41.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc with a second-best 48 made triples (48-of-116). Currently, Utomi ranks 45th in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (3.00), 86th in 3-point FG made (48), 64th in 3-point FG percentage (.414), and135th in defensive rebounds per game (5.44). Leading a Young Crew The Akron Zips look to veteran leaders junior guard (Cleveland, Ohio) and graduate transfer (Toronto, Ontario) to navigate through the 2017-18 campaign. Ivey, the only returning starter from last year's squad, has played 84 career games for the blue and gold, starting 45 of those contests. He earned a starting role last season and has averaged 10 points per game for two consecutive seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17).
In 2017-18, Ivey ranks third in scoring for Akron with 13.3 points per night and second in rebounds 5.8 (93). Ivey Leads in assists with 3.9 per outing (62). He notched a double-double against App State with 15 points and 10 assists. Ivey scored a career-high 25 points against Davidson and followed with 24 points against Concord. The other seasoned vet on the squad is a transfer from Oregon State. Duvivier played three seasons with the Beavers, accounting for 95 games played with 62 starting appearances.
Bobcats Head To Ypsilanti For Mackinac Island
Over that three-year span, he averaged 23.85 minutes per game against some of the best competition in college basketball with 6.56 points, 2.03 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per night. As a sophomore, He scored 10.7 points per game. Only two additional Zips have appeared in more than 30 games for their collegiate careers. In 2017-18, Duvivier averages a second-best 14.1 points with 3.7 assists per game (59 assists). Duvivier scored a career-high 24 points against App State and Concord.
He has scored in double figures in 11 games with four 20-plus performances, 21 points against Davidson and Western Michigan. Against Concord, Duvivier hit a career-best seven triples and has made at least five 3-pointers, including 6-5-7 in three-straight games. Duvivier leads the squad with 49 made 3-pointers.
Currently, Duvivier ranks 33rd in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (3.06), 77th in 3-point FG made (49), and 78th in 3-point FG percentage (.405). E-MAN SHATTERS CAREER MARK Sophomore frontcourt player (Houston, Texas) shattered his career-scoring record against Fort Wayne, pouring in 24 points in 25 minutes of work. E-Man erased his previous game-high scoring effort (11 points) by halftime, tossing in 14 points before the break. He continued to elevate his personal stat sheet by doubling his career field goals made and attempted.
He knocked down 10 field goals, six more than his previous high, on 13 shot attempts, seven more than before, for a 77.0 shooting percentage. E-Man also made two more trips to the free throw line, burying career-best four freebies on six attempts. In addition, Olojakpoke tied his career-high blocked shot performance with four denials. Bowling Green Recap Freshman guard (Milwaukee, Wisc.) hit a contested 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3.7 seconds remaining to lift Akron to an 80-78 win over visiting Bowling Green Saturday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Zips led throughout the game, but on the strength of 43 free throw attempts and a 31-18 foul disparity in favor of the Falcons, Bowling Green was able to stay in the game and tie it up twice late in the contest, for the final time on two free throws by Demajeo Wiggins with 49 seconds remaining.
Following the second make, the Zips (8-8, 1-3 MAC) missed a 3-pointer, but junior forward Lucas Smith (Omaha, Neb.) grabbed the offensive rebound, setting up Cotton's game-winning heroics. Cotton had his second straight big game off the bench, scoring 23 to tie his career high, set against Buffalo four days prior. The Zips also received a career game from freshman forward Jayden Sayles (Cincinnati, Ohio), who hit his first five field goal attempts, including a pair of putbacks off of offensive rebounds, on his way to a 14-point outing and snagged four rebounds on the afternoon. Junior guard (Cleveland, Ohio) added 19 points. Ivey sank a pair of 3-pointers in a 9-0 run that helped Akron to its biggest lead of the game to that point at the 16:29 mark of the second half, 48-37. Ivey also delivered one of the game's biggest plays, sinking a 3-pointer with 13:16 remaining after the Falcons (11-7, 2-3 MAC) narrowed the deficit to seven at 51-44. Moments later, graduate transfer guard (Toronto, Ontario) and Cotton sank back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Akron lead to 13 once again, and the Falcons slowly whittled away at it before tying it in the final minutes.
Behind Cotton and Sayles, the Zips shot 43.3 percent (13-of-30) for the opening frame in a game that was nearly even by most statistical measures at intermission. The rebounding, shooting and turnover categories all featured a difference of two or less between the Falcons and Zips, but Bowling Green was able to keep itself in the game at the foul line, converting 10-of-15 chances before the half as Akron was whistled for 12 team fouls. Because of those fouls, Duvivier was sidelined for much of the half after accruing his third foul. Sayles, sophomore guard (Houston, Texas), Ivey and Smith all had two fouls before the break, forcing first-year head coach to delve deeper into a bench thinned by the absence of sophomore forward (Houston, Texas).
Due to a medical condition that required surgery, Olojakpoke will miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Full details will be disclosed at a later date. Despite their foul troubles, the Zips held on for a 36-32 lead at the break, surviving 10 turnovers and a cold spell shooting the ball late in the half. Solid defense, including holding the Falcons to 34.6-percent shooting and just two made 3-pointers for the half, allowed Akron to survive its shooting drought to keep its four-point lead intact heading to the locker room. Redshirt freshman guard Justin Turner led Bowling Green with 30 points and sophomore guard Dylan Frye contributed 14 in defeat. Buffalo Recap Playing at home for the first time in 2018, the Akron Zips weren't able to snap their two-game Mid-American Conference losing streak, falling 87-65 to the visiting Buffalo Bulls. Freshman guard (Milwaukee, Wisc.) led the Zips' scoring with a career-high 23 points while adding two steals, two rebounds and an assist in 29 minutes off the bench.
Junior guard (Cleveland, Ohio) added 16 points, including three of the team's six 3-pointers. Akron received 38 points in bench scoring as four reserves recorded double-digit minutes. The Zips were ice cold at the outset, missing their first 12 field goal attempts, turning the ball over seven times, and falling behind 27-7 in the game's first 12-plus minutes. Akron's first seven points all came from the foul line as they got into the bonus early. Freshman forward buried the first set of bonus buckets, while Cotton made three charity tosses and Sayles collected two more freebies to get the Zips on the board.
A baseline jumper by freshman center broke Akron's drought from the field, but the Zips were unable to get closer than 15 points before intermission, trailing 38-17. Junior guards Jeremy Harris and C.J.
Massinburg combined for nine early points to get Buffalo off to a strong start and the duo combined for 27 points on the night. The bright spot in the opening 20 minutes for the hosts was strong defense beyond the arc, as they forced the Bulls into 1-of-16 shooting (6.3 percent) from 3-point range prior to the break. Buffalo was able to compensate for its errant marksmanship from long distance by controlling the paint, outrebounding the Zips 40-34 and recording a 44-12 edge on points in the paint.
The Zips were also able to get on track from behind the arc thanks in to Ivey's 6-of-11 effort in the second half in the second stanza. Despite the improved shooting, the Zips weren't able to cut the margin to fewer than 24 points as Buffalo continued its strong inside play behind junior forward Nick Perkins 17 points. Groce Debuts with a WIN Zips' head coach has spent over two decades on the sidelines of a basketball court as a coach and enters his 10th season as the lead man, but first at Akron.
On April 6, 2017, Groce was named the 22nd head coach in Akron Basketball history. For the last six and a half months, Groce has been preparing a young team for the new season.
11, Groce and the Zips accomplished something that has only been done 10 times in Akron's history, debuting a coaching career with a win. Akron defeated Cleveland State 67-57 in Groce's Akron coaching debut to become the first coach since the 1984-85 season to win their initial game.
In fact, the last coach to start his Akron career with a win was Bob Huggins during the 1984-85 season against Western Illinois, 64-57. Prior to Huggins, six coaches were unsuccessful in accomplishing that feat since Thomas Dowler did so in 1939-40 against Franklin, 34-25.
The LeBron James Shoe Deal and Nike Apparel Since June 2008, the Akron men's basketball program has been partnered with Nike under which the Zips' shoes, game uniforms, warm ups and accessories are licensed under the Nike and LeBron James Trademarks. The Zips are just one of three college programs in the country that are partnered with the LBJ line of Nike equipment, the others are Ohio State and Duquesne. Akron rocks six pairs of LBJ kicks in three different styles all customized to Akron Basketball. The Akron Zips men's basketball team have four different uniforms. The white (home) and blue (away) uniforms represent a reinvigorated pride in our University, our City, and Zips Athletics.
The designs for both home and away were inspired by the 'Pride of the City'. The goal is to strengthen the pride for the University of Akron within the community. The home uniforms are white with dark blue trim and accents, while the away are dark blue with white trim and accents. The 'Pride of the UniverCity' uniforms display the name Akron in a prestigious oldstyle script font on the chest with the number(s) below. The script font and numbers are the same color as the jersey top (white/white or blue/blue) and outlined with the opposite color. The inspiration for the script writing and to use Akron on the chest stemmed from tradition and an overwhelming amount of pride for the city of Akron and its University.
The game shorts have three distinguishing marks. The right side of the shorts depicts the Zips' mascot Zippy, and her Fear the Roo head logo, while the left side dons the University's official seal. The final mark on the shorts is the notorious Z-logo, which appears on the front waistband.
New for 2017-18, Akron has a grey set of uniforms modeled after the Team USA uniforms. The Grey uniforms feature the script Akron on the chest in blue outlined in the university gold. The numbers are depicted the same way which matches the blue piping that outlines the uniform. The shorts feature the Z-logo on both sides of the leg and are piped with the blue.Akron also has a purple set of uniforms that are worn as a tribute to former coach and director of operations Dan Peters. UP NEXT The Akron Zips return to James A.
Rhodes Arena for back-to-back league games. First, Akron hosts Western Division foe Northern Illinois on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 4:30 p.m. Next, the Zips host Eastern Division rival Ohio Bobcats on Tuesday, Jan. Fans can follow the action on ESPN3, 1350-AM, or GoZips.com.
Ypsilanti was simply basketball hell. At least for Ohio in the first half. Eastern Michigan’s 2-3 zone defense slowed Ohio’s usually quick tempo.
The Bobcats scored just six interior points in the first half and eventually finished with 22. Ohio can thank Jordan Dartis, Jason Carter and Mike Laster for reviving the offense in the second half, though.
Dartis scored 26 points on a night filled with relatively-poor shooting (40 percent for Ohio), 30-combined turnovers, four players fouling out and about a 10-minute official review of a double technical foul by Gavin Block and Eastern Michigan's James Thompson. Dartis finished 5-of-11 from the field and 12-of-12 on free throws. Laster bolstered Ohio’s second half offense by adding a career-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Carter finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds while Thompson sat out late with four fouls. “I did challenge our guys at halftime to not be just a 3-point shooting team,” Phillips said to ESPN.
“We certainly do that well, but you got (to) have some balance.” Historically, Ypsilanti has not been kind to the Bobcats. Ohio hadn't won in Yspilanti since 2006.