University of Akron
Ohio
January 16 | Men's Basketball
The Zips took the first game of the series in 2023-24 on January 23 with a 67-58 victory at James A. Rhodes Arena while the Bobcats struck back with a 74-67 victory of their own at the Ohio Convocation Center. The Zips took the third meeting last season in the MAC Championship semifinals 65-62.
Akron and Ohio split the series in 2022-23 with both squads protecting home court. Xavier Castaneda led all scorers with a career-high 34 points, on 10-of-15 shooting in the most recent meeting between the two sides that saw Ohio win 90-81.
Enrique Freeman had a career performance at the JAR last season against the Bobcats, scoring 32 points to help the Zips defeat Ohio 83-77 on January 28, 2023. Holding a 49-44 series advantage, The Zips have won 18 of the last 28 meetings, and are 29-14 against the Bobcats in Akron, winning 18 of the last 22 meetings at Rhodes Arena. The Zips are 16-28 against OU in Athens, winning six of the last 12 meetings at the Convocation Center.
SCOUTING THE BOBCATS
Ohio comes into Friday’s contest with a 10-6 overall record, a 4-0 record in the MAC and a 2-4 record on the road. The Bobcats have won six straight and are just one of three team’s in the MAC yet to lose a conference game.
The Green and White were victorious over Ball State, 86-71, at home on January 14. Ohio shot .548 against the Cardinals from the field and had four players score 10 or more points. Jackson Paveletzke and Aidan Hadaway both scored 15 points while AJ Brown and AJ Clayton both scored 12 points to lead the Bobcats to the conference victory.
Clayton was named one of five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for his performance the week of Jan. 6, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced. Clayton scored his 1,000th career point and led the Ohio men’s basketball team to a 2-0 week, helping the Bobcats to a 3-0 start to MAC play. Overall, Clayton averaged 29.0 points per game, while going 20-of-30 (.667) from the field, 13-of-18 (.722) from three and 5-of-8 (.625) from there line. He also averaged 5.5 rebounds a game, 1.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 2.5 blocks on the week.
Clayton leads the Bobcats in points per game (16.8), rebounds per game (6.3) and total blocks (30). Jackson Paveletzke leads Ohio in assists (5.7) while Shereef Mitchell leads the way in steals (1.7)
The Bobcats average 81.1 points per game and are outscoring their opponents this season by 7.3 points per game. Ohio is shooting .483 from the field and .368 from beyond the arc with 9.4 3-point shots falling per game. The Bobcats average 34.7 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 11.8 turnovers, 7.8 steals and 3.8 blocks per game.
Ohio ranks in the top five in the MAC in scoring (3rd – 81.1), scoring margin (3rd -7.3), fg pct, (2nd – .482), opp. fg pct (5th – .442), 3pt fg pct (.368), ft pct (4th – .735), def. rebounds (5th – 25.9), turnover margin (4th – +2.00), assist-turnover margin (4th – +1.35), blocked shots (2nd – 3.75), assists (3rd – 15.94) and steals (t3rd – 7.81).
The Bobcats rank 84th in the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio (+1.35), 73rd in assists per game (15.9), 38th in effective fg pct (.560), 14th in fastbreak points (15.94), 44th in fg pct (.482), 51st in scoring offense (81.1), 58th in 3pt pct (.368), 56th in 3pt made per game (9.4), 84th in turnover margin (+2.0) and 83rd in turnovers forced (13.81). Jackson Paveletzke ranks 36th in the NCAA in total assists (91) assists per game (5.7) and 77th in double-doubles (4). AJ Clayton ranks 35th in blocks per game (1.88), 73rd in 3pt pct (.404), 60th in 3pters made per game (2.88) and total 3pt shots made (46).
ZIPS AT A GLANCE
The Zips host the Ohio Bobcats in a battle of undefeated MAC teams on Friday. Akron comes in with an 11-5 overall record, a 4-0 record in the MAC and an 8-0 record at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The Zips are coming off an 85-78 victory over the Toledo Rockets at home on January 14 where the Zips overcame a double-figure deficit at the half to stay perfect at home and in conference. Nate Johnson led the Zips in scoring with a career high 28 points.
N. Johnson leads the Zips in scoring (12.7) and steals (1.8). Tavari Johnson leads Akron in assists (4.2) while James Okonkwo leads the Zips in rebounds (8.2) and total blocks (18).
Akron is currently scoring 82.3 points per game and has outscored its opponents by 8.7 points per game this season. The Zips are shooting .442 from the field, .351 from beyond the arc and averages 11.4 3’s per game. The Blue and Gold holds a .752 ft percentage while averaging 40.1 rebounds, 17.9 assists,12.3 turnovers, 8.1 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
Akron is in the top five in the MAC for scoring offense (2nd – 82.3), scoring defense (5th – 73.6), scoring margin (2nd – +8.7) , opp. fg pct (4th – .429), 3pt pct ( 3rd – .351), opp. 3pt pct (5th – .330), 3pters made (1st – 11.4), ft pct (1st – .735, rebounds (1st – 40.1), off. rebounds (3rd – 13.3), def. rebounds (2nd – 26.9), rebound margin (4th – +2.8), assist-turnover margin (1st – +1.46), turnover margin (5th – +1.75), assists (1st – 17.94) and steals (2nd – 8.06).
The Zips are ranked 41st in the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio (+1.46), 14th in assists per game (17.9), 11th in bench points (34.13), 40th in fastbreak points (14.38), 68th in ft pct. (.752), 62nd in def. rebounds (27.00), 33rd in off. rebounds (13.56), 19th in rebounds per game (40.56), 94th in scoring margin (+8.7), 34th in scoring offense (82.3), 84th in steals per game (8.1), 5th in 3-pointers made per game (11.4), 97th in turnover margin (+1.8) and 68th in forced turnovers (14.00). James Okonkwo ranks 91st in the NCAA for total rebounds (132), 29th off. rebounds (3.31) and 60th in rebounds per game (8.3).
LAST TIME OUT (VS TOLEDO 1/14/25)
AKRON, Ohio – For the second time this season the Zips overcame a double-digit first half deficit as the Blue and Gold defeated Toledo 85-78 at home Tuesday.
The Zips trailed the Rockets 42-30 at the half and used a 55 point second half to claim their fourth consecutive conference victory and eighth straight home victory. This also marks the second time the Zips have started league play 4-0 under head coach John Groce.
Akron (11-5, 4-0) had three players score in double figures, led by Nate Johnson, who had a career-high 28 points while adding nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Amani Lyles added a career high 16 points, a career high seven made field goals and two blocks from the bench and Shammah Scott chipped in with 12 points.
The Akron bench tailed 41 points, the 12th game this season where the bench has scored at leas 30 points and fifth with at least 40.
Akron did an excellent job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 21 assists while turning the ball over nine times. Individually, Tavari Johnson led the way for the Zips with nine assists.
Akron’s defense held Toledo to only 37.5 percent shooting from the field, including 27.8 percent from beyond the arc.
LAST TIME AGAINST OHIO (3/15/24)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Akron men’s basketball team went into the halftime break trailing Ohio 26-16, but rallied from the deficit to beat the Bobcats 65-62 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Friday.
The Zips (23-10) had three players score in double figures, led by Enrique Freeman, who secured a double-double with 24 points and 21 rebounds. Ali Ali tacked on 16 points and eight rebounds and Sammy Hunter helped out with 14 points.
Freeman set a MAC Tournament record with his 21 rebounds while setting a new career-high in blocks with seven.
The Akron offense was very productive from beyond the arc, making eight threes on 22 attempts. Hunter was the most prolific shooter for the Zips, draining four treys in the contest.
The Akron defense held Ohio shooters to only 36.1 percent from the field, including 21.7 percent from three-point range. The Bobcats did not get many second opportunities on the offensive end, as they grabbed only eight offensive rebounds and scored 10 second chance points while Akron pulled down 30 defensive rebounds.
ON NATIONAL TV
Akron is 1-0 on the national stage with a win at Bowling Green (71-68) on CBS Sports Network.
The Zips currently have two more nationally televised games scheduled in the month of January. Akron will be featured on CBSSN when they host Ohio on Friday, January 17 for a 6 p.m. tipoff time. The first installment of the rivalry game between Akron and Kent State was also selected to be aired on national TV as CBSSN will broadcast the game from the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio on Friday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.
The remaining dates will be announced 21 days prior to the contests which may affect four game dates for Akron, including a pair of home games against Kent State (3/1/24) and Buffalo (3/7/24) as well as a pair of road games at Central Michigan (2/15/23) and at Ohio (2/22/24).
HOME SWEET HOME
The Zips own a 477-135 (.779) all-time record at the James A. Rhodes Arena. In the last 17 seasons, Akron has posted a 273-40 (.872) record at the JAR. The Zips recorded a 13-1 record at the JAR last season and had won their last 16 home games dating back to the 2022-23 season before falling to EMU on March 5, 2024.
Under coach Groce, Akron is 95-15 (.864) at home. The Zips were 15-1 at home in 2022-23 and 13-1 in 2023-24. Akron is 8-0 at the JAR in 2024-25.
Akron owns a 102-21 (.829) home-opening record and 38-4 (.905) at Rhodes Arena. The Zips have been winners in the last 22-of-23 home opening games. Akron is 21-8 in MAC openers, and 12-1 at home since joining the league in 1992. Over the last 18 seasons, the Zips are 15-3 in MAC openers and 7-1 at home.Akron has won the last 9-of-10 MAC openers.
Akron went 12-4 at Rhodes Arena in Groce’s first year as head coach and followed with a 14-3 effort. The Zips went 15-2 at home in 2019-20 en route to the regular season MAC Championship. The Zips set the all-time longest home winning streak record at 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.
CAREER NIGHT AGAINST THE ROCKETS
Multiple Zips recorded career highs against Toledo at the JAR on January 14.
Nate Johnson recorded a career high in scoring (28), rebounds (9) and field goals made (12). Amani Lyles recorded a career high in scoring (16) and field goals made (7) while tying his career high for blocks in a game (2). Marvin Musiime-Kamali recorded a career high in scoring (8) and field goals made (4).
THIS HASN’T HAPPEND IN A WHILE
Tavari Johnson became the first Zip to post a double-double in points and assists when he scored 10 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists against Eastern Michigan on January 11, 2025. The Last Zip to record this feat was Loren Cristian Jackson when he scored 12 points and dished out 11 assists on Feb. 19, 2011 at Ball State.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Zips travel to Buffalo on Tuesday, January 21 for a conference match at 7 p.m.
