Leaderboard

Groce had team very well prepared for a tough matchup 3,000 miles from home.

Long time listener, first time caller sort of thing. You can tell by the username where I'm from. I just wanted to sign up to tell you all, even though moral victories aren't what you wanted, your guys played great in Cleveland and last night. You should be proud of how well they showed out last night against UCLA. I really believe if Freeman hadn't gotten in foul trouble that was going to be a W for Akron. With all the youth on your team slated to come back, the future is really bright for Akron. Congrats on a great run from Bobcatville, can't wait for the battles next season.

I'm not trying to downplay war, but the Z was prominently displayed last night on the jumbotron and elsewhere for the basketball game. That means the arena, NCAA, etc., were all accomplices in promoting war propaganda. Tired of this angle of the debate.

“Probably the most well-coached and best defensive team we’ve played all year,” Cronin said.

The words "we belong" come to mind when I think about the game last night. Never had this feeling after an NCAA Tournament game before.

BruinGold forum had a lot of praise for Akron. I posted a summary of our program over there and it was well received. Some UCLA/P5 arrogance in other threads, but nothing but class from those I interacted with. They all noted how well coached the game was and were very impressed by our defense. We may have lost, but I think we definitely grabbed the attention of the nation.

I will post the standings tomorrow following Round 1. Those of you who took UCLA, I wish I could award you no points.

Credit UCLA on this. They watched film and took away all of his strengths. They took away A LOT of our strengths. That was a phenomenal coaching matchup.

It did. We needed more from him without a doubt. Honestly, besides Freeman, X and Clarke to an extent, nobody really showed up on offense. Maybe we should give some credit to UCLA's D though. We didn't have many easy opportunities. With that said, just ANY call going our way probably would have changed the outcome. It stinks.

Agreed. Enrique has been in foul trouble many games this season. Many times, I don’t see them (even on replay). But the officials are seeing something. It was more than the last call for illegal screen. Last night was a classic case of this and his fouling out was catastrophic, obviously. The MAC championship game was a different story and the outcome reflected it. Going forward, the coaching staff has to get a handle on this. If they don’t know the reason(s) why, they need to get it figured out so it can be remedied. It certainly is NOT because of a bad attitude from Enrique. He always has a positive demeaner on the court, never complaining or whining. Perhaps a video review of past games with a retired official in the off-season could shed some light. Regardless, I couldn’t be more proud of last night’s effort by the entire team and the great coaching by the Groce and his staff. Tremendous defensive display. They can certainly hold their heads high! So looking forward to next year’s campaign. Go Zips!

So proud of this team. So proud how they represented Akron. Really excited about next season. Not sure about that second to last possession. EDIT: Zips can get that called as a foul in the MAC but not in this type of game. Also, that awful Terry Weimer was officiating. OT would not have gone well. Lots to be proud of.

How fun is this!! They look good!!

How far has Garvin Clarke come in the last 30-45 days?

Nick Cronin's expression looks like a guy who just realized he shouldn't have eaten that cold burrito that was in the fridge.

Zips need to slow it down.

Kangaroos > Peacocks TNT guys crying in their green beer over poor, poor Kentucky/Calipari

https://www.kentucky.com/ COUNT THEM.. 7 front page articles on Kentucky's loss.

That late season and tournament run may be the finest example of coaching we've seen in Akron basketball in a very long time. I like the kids on this team but there have been much more talented UA teams that didn't accomplish half of what this team did. It was accomplished by getting 8 players to completely buy into the system and give full effort for every second they were on the floor. That kind of effort and attitude across the board is an exceptional accomplishment. Those kids were also well prepared for all of their games, even on short turnarounds. Also, the staff showed considerable patience with kids like Clarke and Wynn and that paid off in the end. Kudos to Groce and his staff. Enjoy those tournament bonuses guys. They were well earned.

What an absolutely incredible game and game plan by the team and coaching staff. I was on the edge of my seat the entire game. I certainly had my doubts, but this staff is built to coach in March. I now firmly believe that the 2020 team, had they made the dance, would've had a fantastic run. And this team as well...lacking depth from the departure of two starters during the season and an completely red-shirted freshman class, managed to take a Final Four team, one that returned everyone, to the brink. Would've loved to see how we matched up against St. Mary's. We'll flow into next season, hopefully with all the key pieces back. I am apprehensive on what we have coming in from newcomers. Would love to see some depth in the post (can you imagine if we could afford to play Bandaogo and Freeman at the same time for a handful of minutes?). Speaking of Bandaogo, I thought he did an admirable job. There were a couple instances where he got stuck on a guard after a switch and he was stuck playing perimeter defense. I thought he did a fantastic job. Enrique made himself known to the nation, and I hope he loves UA as much as we all do...because I feel like there's going to be some temptations out there in the portal this offseason for him. The effusive praise from the CBS crew was both affirming and somewhat nerve-wracking.

Zips start at 34:50 mark. Proud to be a Zip!

The improper screen is the least called violation in all of basketball. I'm always calling it out from the stands at the JAR (against the opponent of course). That's what made it so frustrating. Sure, it was a foul but they could have called a dozen of those in the game. As for Freeman, I think he's hurt by being the only big doing the dirty work down low. Another big that could defend down deep and help on the boards would relieve him of the pressures to do it all and as a result decrease his fouls. I think depth really hurt this team. Another couple of contributors would have really helped in the long run. It's a shame that our Ball State quitter and St. John's head case didn't work out. As for Ali, we've learned that once he's made up his mind to take a shot there's no turning back. I always told the kids I coached that the refs will not bail you out when you are out of control. He wasn't fouled on that drive but even of he was I think the refs may well have swallowed their whistles unless it was egregious.

Apparently the tracker did not see the OSU game lol. Yeah we are all tired of the moral victories but hey, I'm so glad our Kangaroos showed up and played pretty darn well on the big stage. Excited for next year.

75% chance to win or whatever that espn stat tracker was Exactly why I never trust that crap. analytics can kiss my ass

One illegal screen call in the entire game and they call it in the last 2 minutes to foul out one of our best players. Tell me that is not crap. The refs should be ashamed of themselves for controlling this game. Every call the last 5 minutes went against Akron.

Hit a few more shots and refs don't matter. Great job Zips! Represented themselves very well - CONGRATS!

Key moment of the game was the offensive foul that was not called against UCLA and the illegal screen call against Freeman.

Win or Lose I am damn proud of those Kids.

College basketball games should only be one half. I've always said that.

I think we have their attention.

What defense!!

Stop the count!!

Starting up this one to give us a discussion point for the off-season. Hopefully, the transfer portal will not take away any of our established core but you can never tell given the transient nature of current college athletics and the impetuousness of college age males. Certainly, a MAC championship and a NCAA tourney berth should help to retain and attract new talent. We'll also have the red-shirted freshmen and Kalle on board. Groce and staff can have today off to get back from Portland but next season starts tomorrow!

This might be a bit of a "too soon" hot take. Wynn was the ultimate teammate throughout the year, sticking it out to ultimately have a big role in a championship team. But he didn't provide much more than a warm body on the floor. I'm eyeing that as the spot we can see a big upgrade next year

Nah. Ali is a guard imo. He has a bit of a post skill set when he has a mismatch and can back down another guard. But he's not a 4

He'd be a 7 footer in the MAC. As long he's not Khadim Gueye or Mark Kostelac he'd be fine.

Here you go @Blue & Gold@NWAkron

So the Akron men got the 13th seed and the ultimate blue blood opponent in UCLA. Buffalo women got the 13th seed and the ultimate blue blood opponent in Tennessee. Hope Bulls and the Rockets in the WNIT can make some noise. Right now, the Kent women are the only post-season winners from the MAC.

We need an epilogue thread and/or prologue for next season. Is this the guy someone said was on campus? Isaiah Cottrell StatusTransferred from West Virginia Year2020 (FR) PositionPF Height6-10 Weight245 HometownLas Vegas, NV High SchoolHuntington Prep

He and Ali are P5 caliber. However, both were given their only shot by Akron and Groce. I see them as Groce lifers, meaning where he is, they'll be.

Enrique Freeman: 24 minutes, fouled out, +5 Aziz Bandaogo: 12 minutes, -8 Dare I say, that's the difference. It really felt like Freeman was barely in the game. And when he was in the game, it felt like the Zips were going to win. In the end, there were simply too many empty possessions that ended with an Ali or Tribble stinker and almost zero that ended with a good shot attempt for a guy like Dawson or Clarke. At the end of the day, the Zips missed their fair share of shots while UCLA hit a bunch of tough ones down the stretch. Of the big ones, the one that worried me the most at the time was the three that Jules Bernard hit with a hand in his face with 5:16 to go. The Zips were up 49-42 and Freeman had just been taken out with his 4th foul. That's when I said "uh-oh." Ali tried to force too much for pretty much the whole game, and it's fitting that it ended the way it did. Lord knows if Wynn would have made that shot, but it would have been nice if he would've had the chance. It just be that way sometimes. Officiating was fine, but far from good. I don't expect the Zips to get any calls on that stage, but about half of Freeman's were awful, plus a few pushoffs missed, and that block on Aziz was absolutely shameful and Matt Potter shouldn't get another NCAA game. Pathetic and embarrassing. the $3500 or whatever he got paid last night should go to charity. I'm really crushed for these guys. They were the better team for most of the game, and just couldn't make 1 or 2 more plays or we'd be talking about our second round game. Damn it damn it damn it. Feels just like the Ohio State game, but 1000000x worse. As far as the future goes, repeating is one of the hardest things to do in sports. We got everyone back, but so does a certain school making their way back from Southern Utah. Next season could be a big one for the Zips. I'm excited! Go Zips!

Disappointing loss. However, the level of tournament competency was nice to see.

On one hand, I went into the game not expecting much. The last time we made the tourney it was a disaster. A 46-point blowout that never had a chance. So yeah I should be happy about being one shot away from sending UCLA to overtime. But honestly sometimes I think it hurts more to know they were so close, and probably should have won. I doubt we would have had a shot against St. Marys. But to just finally see the Zips win a tournament game would have been a giant relief. Nobody expected them to make it very far in the MAC tournament. So we should be happy about just making it right? In the back of my head I can't help but think about when teams like the Indians and Browns made their improbable playoff runs. I remember thinking: Oh cool the Indians were short handed and almost won the world series or the Browns were short handed and almost made the AFC Championship. They'll get better next year, add some talent and nobody is going to stop them. Instead both teams turned into dumpster fires. I hate lumping the Zips into the failures of NE Ohio professional sports, but PTSD can't help me forget those teams. Hopefully the Zips come back next season stronger and ready to roll in the tournament and not follow in the footsteps of NE Ohio's other sports failures.

I saw that on the replay and I am okay with that no call and letting them play but then do not call an illegal screen on Freeman 10 seconds later. If you are going to let them play then do it on both sides of the ball.

Groce told the team if they did not have numbers that the team was going to call timeout. Groce was watching Ali while he was trying to call time out. He should have gotten in the refs face. Instead he had his eyes on Ali while he was calling time out. Once Ali made his move to the basket there is no way the ref was going to call timeout. We needed to play a perfect game to beat UCLA and the last 5 minutes was anything but perfect. Once again we just could not pull off the upset. On the replay there is no question Wynn was wide open for the three. Just like the Kent game at he jar, we should have passed to the open player.

If this is true, that's grounds for an investigation and formal protest. What horse 💩.

For this to happen the refs would have to call a foul on UCLA. Can't State will find class before that happens.