2026 MAC Tournament

[LZIp]

1 minute ago, Blue & Gold said:

🫣🫣🤣😭😭

 

Our FT shooting was absolutely abysmal during the tournament. 

[ZippyRulz]

Anyone else surprised they didn't have tighter defense on SS or even a double team? No defender(s) to be seen in this clip:

 

 

I love that we didn't try to run some cute passing play that could have resulted in a turnover.

 

Edited March 15 by ZippyRulz

[ZippyRulz]

2 hours ago, zipsrule said:

2026 MAC Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team

Leonardo Bettiol, UMass
Sean Craig, Toledo
Leroy Blyden Jr., Toledo
Amani Lyles, Akron
Tavari Johnson, Akron - MVP

 

Bud Wentz.

 

[Illini Zip]

2 minutes ago, ZippyRulz said:

Anyone else surprised they didn't have tighter defense on SS or even a double team?

 

I think they had to defend that play straight up because if the ball gets into Tavari’s hands a floater or lay up wins it just the same. 

[NWAkron]

https://open.substack.com/pub/akronzippedup/p/akron-zips-mens-basketball-weekly-1ad?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

 

Excellent summary of tournament from Zipped Up.

[roopride]

Note differences in Groce post game Toledos. Ignore W vs L

[akzipper]

The Zips had the easiest path to a championship that I can remember and made it as difficult as possible. Three stressful games that shouldn't have been stressful at all. 

 

But in the end, the best team in the conference rose to the top. 

[clarkwgriswold]

"I don't know that it's lucky when you do it 4 times in 5 years.". Groce's response to Tod's comments at the selection show party.

[kreed5120]

14 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

"I don't know that it's lucky when you do it 4 times in 5 years.". Groce's response to Tod's comments at the selection show party.

Out of likes but +1

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 hours ago, akzipper said:

The Zips had the easiest path to a championship that I can remember and made it as difficult as possible. Three stressful games that shouldn't have been stressful at all. 

 

But in the end, the best team in the conference rose to the top. 

 

That was the toughest road we've ever had. Was messaging with someone close to the program and they agreed. MAC hasn't been this deep in a long time. Buffalo was probably a top 3-4 team if healthy and Kent in the semis is never easy. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

 

[akzipper]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

 

Still makes me sad that Nate transferred. This team would have been insane had he stayed and unfortunately he missed out on a tournament appearance. 

[ewbrooman1]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

 

Awesome!

[zippy5]

20 minutes ago, akzipper said:

Still makes me sad that Nate transferred. This team would have been insane had he stayed and unfortunately he missed out on a tournament appearance. 

Who knows if we afford to keep Tavari, Lyles, Shammah, and bring in Evan then? 

[NWAkron]

10 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

Anyone else surprised they didn't have tighter defense on SS or even a double team? No defender(s) to be seen in this clip:

 

 

I love that we didn't try to run some cute passing play that could have resulted in a turnover.

 

Sonny Wilson was guarding him who did much more to contest the shot than Garvin Clarke did with Segu's missed 3 in 2022.

Edited March 16 by NWAkron

[Let'sGoZips94]

11 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

Anyone else surprised they didn't have tighter defense on SS or even a double team? No defender(s) to be seen in this clip:

 

 

I love that we didn't try to run some cute passing play that could have resulted in a turnover.

 

 

To be fair, that clip is showing a vertical-angle cell phone shot that cuts the defender out. Prior to this, while Shammah was dribbling the air out of the ball near half-court, the defender was on his butt. The defender not shown in this footage was actually at or a little beyond the 3P line. Shammah hit that stepback from Canal Park essentially which is exactly what Toledo wanted. Akron wasn't shooting the 3ball well all night, they kept the Zips out of the paint by design on the last possession and gave Shammah a contested stepback 3 from WAY downtown. He hit it and the rest is history. I don't think they'd ever change their game plan except for maybe try to force the ball out of Shammah's hands, although I don't know if they fully expected the ball to stay in Shammah's hands the entire possession. 

[AkronAlumnus]

Still feels surreal to me....  This year feels different.   

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

I looped Shammah's game winner to easily show just how many Akron fans were in the crowd. Normally you can see a definitive line where Akron's fans are vs. the opponent's fans. Not Saturday night; Akron fans wrapped all the way around. 11k in attendance and probably ~9k were Zips fans. Previous MAC title games - including vs. Kent - only saw 7-8k total attendance. What an incredible showing by Zips Nation!

Edited March 16 by Let'sGoZips94

[Let'sGoZips94]

 

Something tells me Kowalchoke is enemy #1 at Akron right now.

 

Edited March 16 by Let'sGoZips94

[Let'sGoZips94]

Rewatching the 14 minutes of the game. ESPN needs to figure out how to capture the crowd noise better. That place was so loud and you would never know watching on TV. 

[zippy5]

Speaking of rewatching - I went back and watched the last five minutes. Evans block with a couple minutes left is my unheralded play of the game. Unreal hustle and athleticism on that one 

[MDZip]

All we need now is a win over Bowling Green in the Championship game to complete the Ohio sweep. 2018,  2019 (Groces first two years) are the only two years since 2005 where Akron did not make at least the semifinal. And Akron has won at least one tournament game in every year since then (except of course 2020). 

[kreed5120]

2 minutes ago, MDZip said:

All we need now is a win over Bowling Green in the Championship game to complete the Ohio sweep. 2018,  2019 (Groces first two years) are the only two years since 2005 where Akron did not make at least the semifinal. And Akron has won at least one tournament game in every year since then (except of course 2020). 

 

I was excited when Groce came to Akron, but if I'm to be honest I had doubts he would live up to Dambrot. Not because I didn't think he would do well, but because it's hard to expect anyone to make 9 MAC finals and then win 3 of those.

 

Not only has Groce lived up to those standards, he has surpassed them by making the tournament 4 times in 5 years.

[Zippy87]

4 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I was excited when Groce came to Akron, but if I'm to be honest I had doubts he would live up to Dambrot. Not because I didn't think he would do well, but because it's hard to expect anyone to make 9 MAC finals and then win 3 of those.

 

Not only has Groce lived up to those standards, he has surpassed them by making the tournament 4 times in 5 years.

 

I think Groce is the best coach in program history. The culture, the MAC Tournament success, all of it. With that said, he doesn't take the job in the first place if KD - who I also consider an all-time great - doesn't build it into a program with a winning tradition. Sometimes I take a step back and think about how fortunate we have been to have 13 seasons of KD followed by 9 seasons of Groce. 

Edited March 17 by Zippy87