2026 MAC Tournament

[LZIp]

Prefer not to face Kent, but we’ve had their number lately. How will the two fat guys perform in game 2 of a back to back?

[Let'sGoZips94]

Tickets secured for tomorrow night. Gotta keep those mouth breathers at bay. Let's go Zips!

[exit322]

19 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Tickets secured for tomorrow night. Gotta keep those mouth breathers at bay. Let's go Zips!

OK dumb question...have they said where the two teams' seating sections are?

[MDZip]

 

[1981 grad]

The Zips did not play their best basketball but still came out with a win.  We only shot 33% from the three line and when we do not shoot the 3 ball well we are beatable.  It was tough watching Buffalo come back 2 games in a row.  We cannot close them out.  We had a 16 point lead shrink to one but we came through in the clutch.  Lyles was 0 for 5 from the 3 point line.  We need better than that against Kent.  Eric Mahaffey only took one shot that he made.  Would like to get him more involved in the offense.  Considering this is his first MAC tourney game, he may have been a little hesitant to shoot.  Glad to see we were even on the boards.  Both teams sucked at the foul line.  Buffalo shot 50% and we shot 60%.  However, we did get some offensive rebounds off of our misses.  Lets hope we can raise our game against Kent.  I still think our 3 point shooting is key.

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 hours ago, exit322 said:

OK dumb question...have they said where the two teams' seating sections are?

 

Not to my knowledge. We bought tickets in M118 for $31 each out the door using the ZIPS26 Angela Rizzo code. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[kreed5120]

Let's make the whole arena Zips sections.

[HoopsFan03]

27 minutes ago, exit322 said:

OK dumb question...have they said where the two teams' seating sections are?

108 109

[Zippy87]

Tavari is going to get his 20-25 and then we are going to need a combination of Shammah, Amani, Bowen, Sharron, and Eric to step up and score tomorrow. I didn't think we had bad looks today, a lot of them just didn't drop. 

 

Halligan had something on his hamstring during timeouts and looked a bit slower. He only played 7 minutes and I wouldn't be surprised to see him limited the rest of the weekend. 

[kreed5120]

I feel it will be important to help set the tone physically. We went into their house last time and were the much more physical team, outrebounding them by 11. If we're able to replicate that we should see a Connor Groce siting in the final 2-3 minutes.

 

If Gillespie and Whaley are able to get offensive rebounds to create extra possessions and are able to pound us inside they could make this game more interesting. Evan and Lyles are going to be important. As long as they both can stay out of foul trouble I feel we will hold our own in the post.

[Zips1991]

Akron favored by 7.5 over Kent. 

 

Toledo favored by 3.5 over UMass.

[Zippy87]

57 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

108 109

 

Do they switch them every round then? I figured our bench would be the same as tonight as the higher seed. 

[Zippy87]

This quote...yikes.

 

 

[NWAkron]

I thought the Zips did some hero ball and went for a few high difficulty shots which led to some empty possessions when they had a solid lead.

 

Note the ending v Buffalo game at home and Buffalo quarterfinals 2022:  few weeks ago Buffalo made same come back but Zips had a bigger cushion.  2022 Bulls had open 3 to win, Garvin backed off, and it rattled out.  That last 3 at least Zach had his hand up. 

 

In 2022, after the close call, Zips cruised from there against Toledo and Kent.

Edited yesterday at 03:32 AM by NWAkron

[clarkwgriswold]

We'll have the same bench.  You get to choose by seed and Groce always wants that bench.  That's why our school purchased seats were so screwed up in that we got pushed back in those sections by the higher seeded Miami.  It was satisfying to move down into some of their seats after they got beat and headed back down I-71.

 

I would have preferred to play PCCC in the final in part because of the PCCC hangover we've all seen and Groce has acknowledged.  In event, peel them tonight and play both nights like there's no tomorrow.

[Let'sGoZips94]

9 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

This quote...yikes.

 

 

 

He had another quote where he said he needs to reset the culture of the program. Either he knows his job is safe, or there is going to be a lot of irony when Ohio resets the culture naturally by firing him. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

10 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

I feel it will be important to help set the tone physically. We went into their house last time and were the much more physical team, outrebounding them by 11. If we're able to replicate that we should see a Connor Groce siting in the final 2-3 minutes.

 

If Gillespie and Whaley are able to get offensive rebounds to create extra possessions and are able to pound us inside they could make this game more interesting. Evan and Lyles are going to be important. As long as they both can stay out of foul trouble I feel we will hold our own in the post.

 

Kent is going to try to slow this game down for several reasons. 1) Limit Akron's scoring potential 2) Potential foul trouble for Evan and Amani 3) Conditioning. On the 2nd night of a back to back, Akron has the advantage. Not sure Kent is conditioned for back to back games, especially with Whaley, and especially at Akron's pace. As long as the Zips play smart defensively, take care of the ball, and make their shots on the offensive side, Kent won't have a say in this game. Should we fail at any or all of those objectives, we'll be in for a battle. 

 

50 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

We'll have the same bench.  You get to choose by seed and Groce always wants that bench.  That's why our school purchased seats were so screwed up in that we got pushed back in those sections by the higher seeded Miami.  It was satisfying to move down into some of their seats after they got beat and headed back down I-71.

 

I would have preferred to play PCCC in the final in part because of the PCCC hangover we've all seen and Groce has acknowledged.  In event, peel them tonight and play both nights like there's no tomorrow.

 

The PCCC hangover usually includes multiple days in between and a lesser opponent on the back end with nothing to play for. Not sure we'll be getting a lesser opponent on Saturday night should be come out victorious tonight, and we'll certainly have something to play for. 

Edited 19 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[Illini Zip]

9 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

He had another quote where he said he needs to reset the culture of the program. Either he knows his job is safe, or there is going to be a lot of irony when Ohio resets the culture naturally by firing him. 

How many years has Boals been there? You could excuse missing on the evaluation of a few recruits, but the culture? It took a few years to flourish, but Groce was laying the foundation in Akron on day one. Good grief!!

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

How many years has Boals been there? You could excuse missing on the evaluation of a few recruits, but the culture? It took a few years to flourish, but Groce was laying the foundation in Akron on day one. Good grief!!

 

Since 2019. Groce had Akron as a legit NCAA tournament threat in year 3 and never looked back. Boals won in the NCAA tournament in year 2(?) and has flopped ever since. 

[Illini Zip]

8 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

The PCCC hangover usually includes multiple days in between and a lesser opponent on the back end with nothing to play for. Not sure we'll be getting a lesser opponent on Saturday night should be come out victorious tonight, and we'll certainly have something to play for. 

I don’t see the victor of UMass vs Toledo being in any better condition. That game should be brutal as well. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Just now, Illini Zip said:

I don’t see the victor of UMass vs Toledo being in any better condition. That game should be brutal as well. 

 

That's why I wanted Toledo to beat BG. BG was the best shooting team left on that side of the bracket, but they aren't good at anything else. Toledo will be able to match UMass physicality which bodes well for whomever faces the winner on Saturday night. 

[Westie]

This is the first year I bought tickets through the university. The email said tickets will be sent out the morning of the game. So I presume I will be getting an email soon? Anyone else have experience on this?
 

Go Zips!!

[Illini Zip]

Even though I wanted nothing to do with UMass in the first two games, I prefer them to Toledo if we make the Championship game. Day 3 I believe is far less physical because of fatigue. Toledo is better suited to run in a free flowing game than is UMass.

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 minute ago, Illini Zip said:

Even though I wanted nothing to do with UMass in the first two games, I prefer them to Toledo if we make the Championship game. Day 3 I believe is far less physical because of fatigue. Toledo is better suited to run in a free flowing game than is UMass.

 

That 5 o'clock game is the Hot Seat Bowl. Kowalchoke and Martin are coaching for their jobs. Akron's game is slated to start at 7:30, but the way those 2 teams player, there might be 84 fouls. I'm expecting an 8pm or later start time.

[clarkwgriswold]

Toledo fouls every time down the floor per Aidan Hadaway.