LoyalZIP

Huge win tonight! Much needed to keep pace in the race to Cleveland, especially after a couple of tough home losses. This team has a lot of weapons that are pretty inconsistent, but they may just have the highest ceiling of any team in the league. On any given night, Dawson is an incredible scorer and rebounder, Bass can be dominant offensively and defensively in the post, Brewer runs an excellent point-forward, and any of Layne Ferrell, Corcoran, and Martindale can get hot from the perimeter. Akron has put together a squad that could be very dangerous at RMF in March. Just keep winning! Believe!

Pass Game Specialist for the Chargers, whatever that is.

Nice win, can’t complain about that at the end of the day Wynn got hosed on the replay, what a huge play and effort by him, he’s coming along nicely. Another double figure game for Tribble, I’m willing to extend him a Riak-type leash on threes. He must be wide open and only gets one a game unless he makes the first. Solid game all around, save for Trimble. Just another off night for him. Fortunately, Clarke and Dawson brought it again as did Wynn. I’ve never seen so many blown leads like that, with multiple possessions to extend the lead to around 10. It’s like at Toledo when it got down to a 4-point game and UA turned it over three times in a row. This group commits some bad turnovers, this game should’ve been at least a 15-point win, but again beggars can’t be choosers. I’ve come to realize this team just lacks a killer instinct. They don’t have an LCJ that can run up full speed and take a transition three or drive it inside and get a layup or a foul in a moment that they have momentum. That’s the downside to being so half-court. Anyway, a nice win, and a BIG BIG game coming up on Friday. I don’t know about you, but my heart needs every second of rest it can get leading up to it. These guys are tough, and I’m proud of them. Go Zips!

Yuck

Yet another terrible team burying contested 3s. And an ice cold Trimble.

Trap game? We'll see. NIU gave the Zips a lot of trouble last year, and after a big win @ Washington to open the year, the only other significant win on their schedule is a win at Kent the game before Akron went there and lost. At the end of the day, this is simply a tough place to play and a tough place to win, between the awful floor and the emptiness. I'd like to see Trimble make more strides and for the bench mob to play more meaningful minutes to help keep everyone's legs fresh. Trendon Hankerson has been there for a long time and can heat up quickly, that's the guy I am most worried about. I'd hate to see the Zips drop one like this. Go Zips!

He was definitely going to fill the huge void of a true slasher/scorer type like Tyler Cheese gave us, minus Cheese’s perimeter shooting. On paper, this was an easy team to get excited for, especially considering they had Ohio State on the ropes. This has been a strange roller coaster of a season for sure.

Great post @Let'sGoZips94. Groce was a fairly obvious hire and though that first team he had in 2017-2018 was downright hard to watch most of the time, they showed some tremendous flashes that made me very excited for the future, especially knowing that short little guard sitting out is supposed to be pretty good. Fast forward to 2018-2019, Cheese and LCJ lead the back court along with Ivey, nearly beating a ranked Clemson team in an early season tournament. Unfortunately, that team couldn't win a close game to save its life. But high-level defense and loads of back court potential led to a blowout win against Kent and a home MAC tournament game before a destruction against Buffalo. Believe it or not, this team was rated #2 in the MAC in KenPom at something like 108. Then Team 119. What a special team. My favorite Akron team ever, quite possibly. Sure, they could have blown the QF game in Cleveland, but the fact that they didn't even get the chance to compete while programs like Buffalo skated losing to the 12-seed in the first round makes it all more painful. That team was nearly perfectly put together. Then COVID nukes nonconference play and the preseason and despite that, Akron started MAC play 12-3 before a bit of a collapse and then coming within a bucket of playing in the MAC title. And coming into this year, they should've beat Ohio State and outside of two clunkers that could've in hindsight been the result of a broken locker room caused by Whitford's Saboteur KJ Walton (I'm joking...or am I?), they've played some really nice basketball even with a big interruption after they began to play their best basketball. Yes, I am biased. Yes, I am a homer. No, I am not making excuses for the shortcomings. But there's been a lot of adversity thrown at the program over 5 years, and Groce & Co. have pretty much stayed the course and trusted the process all the way. I admire him a great deal, and I'm very happy to have him leading the program. What I like the most about Groce is the type of culture he has instilled. The teamism stuff can be annoying and seem silly, but we saw what true teamism is in that championship team. It was next man up, hard-nosed defense, high effort, good attitude in every game, they were so easy to love. Also, the general emphasis on conditioning and defense is something I love and has been important in getting the edge on teams late in games and competing with the big boys like Louisville, WVU, Ohio State when we do play them. It's almost like the obnoxious Heat Culture in the NBA. You love it when you have it, and hate it when you compete against it. I have said it before, Akron fans are very lucky and very spoiled. There will come a time where the program doesn't have these kinds of expectations that we've had for nearly 20 years now, at a traditionally lousy Mid-Major program. I'd love to have Groce here for the long-run, at least a couple more years maybe. I'm sure his thoughts on the "Akron job" have changed since he took it. He probably thought of it as a three-year rental until the next pay day, but maybe, just maybe, he's gotten comfortable at Akron and has pulled a Moorhead, realizing that it's a bit more fun to coach when the bright lights aren't on you and you don't have to compete with the best programs in the country every year. At the end of the day, Dambrot has proven you can build a winning program at Akron. John Groce has proven you can build a winning program at Akron. That's a great selling point on the job as a whole for when it comes time to bring in a new leader again. But until then, in Groce We Trust! Go Zips!

If I remember correctly, that was a game in maybe 2015 when he ran the officials off the floor after the game. Could be wrong. Either way, the Zips lost here last year and have lost here numerous times before. The exception was a blowout win by the championship team a couple of years ago. They flew straight there from Miami this evening, I hope they settle in and get the job done again.

Only caught a few minutes—was with family and glanced at the phone every once in a while. All I can say is a nice win, another big one Tuesday. I hope to catch the replay of this one over the next couple of days. Anything from Groce on the post game? Go Zips!

After a tough stretch and a rough performance at Kent, he’s begun to play some of the best basketball of his young career. It’s so obvious when you watch him that’s he’s just a flat out smart dude that studies the game and works so hard on technique. His FT% isn’t where it should be, but you can tell he focuses on his shooting form and it looks superb, I think it looks like he’s aiming it too much instead of relying on the motion. But that comes with practice and reps. I hope he can continue to bulk up and develop into one of the most special post players we’ve ever had. A truly amazing story!

I’m concerned about this one today. Teams like the Zips that are good, yet show signs of vulnerability and inconsistency often leave Millett Hall with a loss. Though Miami lacks skill and size, they can still get it going with Grant and Lairy, so I really want to see the Zips lock down the perimeter in the same way they did in the second half on Friday. By my recollection, I don’t think Miami made a single contested three in the second half. They were run off the line most of the time. Offensively, keep pounding it down low. That’s the obvious thing to do. And unless Jack Owens is the worst coach in the history of the game, I would expect a lot of double teams down there today. Hopefully Trimble is back and he can contribute as he seems to do well in these empty cavernous arenas for whatever reason. If not, I’d like to see Ali be a little more impactful as an outside scorer if not being one that’s playing in the post again like Friday. Zips need to take care of business against these kinds of teams. A big lead and rest the starters for the final 8-10 minutes would be fantastic, but that seems highly unlikely. Go Zips!

What a damn game. I can’t fault them for dropping it, though they had plenty of chances to win. The loss Wednesday hurt a lot more. Still have a couple of games on the 9 seed which is all I care about. Get. To. Cleveland!

I too would love to see more inside-out with Freeman and Ali, especially when it is used to exploit matchups like against Miami. There’s a certain team in Portage County we can do that against as well. If you do it properly by rotating the shooters around the big, eventually the defense will try to double the big and you get a back door layup underneath or a decent look on the perimeter. The Zips could be lethal if they could perfect that in the half court and play with a lot of efficiency.

It was the coach jumping up and down that did it. The referee that called it was the one who called the foul underneath. There was another ref trying to calm down the coach, and the young one (Mike Kitts Jr.) whacked him. I agree, a weak T but justified for the jumping and whatnot, I can’t fault him for calling it. And yes, X missed the pair.

Caught a few minutes. They made very fluky shots, hit big threes. Typical upset. Toledo almost brought it back in the dying moments but they just didn’t hit the shots they usually do. It’s tough to win Friday prime time games on the road, that is for sure.

Ball State up 10 with 30 seconds to go on Toledo. Toledo has shown some vulnerability since the blowout win at Ohio. They fall to 10-2 in the league, giving sole possession of first place back to the Kittens.

Weird game, but a pretty good one. Once the Zips locked down the perimeter in the second half they forced a lot of bad shots and ran the floor well. Props to Clarke and Wynn for making the most of big minutes. Also, Dawson with HUGE offensive boards in the final minutes, as he played a nice game outside of some bad shot attempts in the first half. What are the odds of Trimble airballing two in a row and then X bricking a pair of free throws? I feel so bad for Trim, he’s got mega yips right now. I’m glad he was able to sit the second half to ice up, hopefully he can get it going again at some point this year, Lord knows we need it. Need this road kill on Sunday, one game at a time. Go Zips!

Vegas has finally gotten tired of the Zips getting crushed by double-digit home spreads and has set this one at Akron -7. I don't know a ton about Miami, and fortunately I don't think it really matters. It's a very old and experienced team that has lost a lot of basketball games over the last 5 years, while winning a couple of big ones here and there. I'm hoping to see a newly energized Akron team that had a week off of games I feel they desperately needed. I expect a slow start, but I don't see why the Zips would drop this one. Of course, this group is so hard to get a read on so who knows. I want to see 40 minutes of defense and good shot selection offensively. That is a great recipe for success for this team. I'm excited for the boys to be back, that's for sure! Go Zips!

That does not seem accurate. They are going to have a full lacrosse season in the stadium and spring ball goes until the end of April this year. Perhaps they will start some time in May, but I have a hard time imagining it will be completed by May. I could be wrong, but I don’t see how that would make sense.

Absolutely awful performance by the Zips. At least 10 of those turnovers were due to passes that never had a chance. And at the end with the chance to take the lead, Dawson tried to draw contact instead of make the layup. Next to nothing from Bass or Corcoran. Just a recipe for disaster, and Saturday won’t be any easier. Bad loss tonight.

With no men’s games for 5 days now, if you need your Zips fix tune in tonight! This would be a really nice win. The Zips are still undefeated at the JAR this year.

Rutgers transfer OL Kevin Toth (Hudson HS) landed at Kent.

I despise Kent, but I can’t deny they’re playing some of the best ball in the league right now. The Zips need to win both of these this weekend.

Moving the game up a few hours was discussed, but due to staffing issues was unable to be done. I’m sure WMU we be high-tailing it out of the JAR tomorrow, hopefully after a loss to the Zips!