2021–22 Akron Zips men's basketball team

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2021–22 Akron Zips men's basketball
Akron Zips logo.svg
MAC tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, First Round
ConferenceMid-American Conference
2021–22 record24–10 (14–6 MAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachDustin Ford (4th season)
Assistant coaches
  • Rob Fulford (4th season)
  • Robby Pridgen (4th season)
Home arenaJames A. Rhodes Arena
Seasons
 →
2021–22 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Toledo 17 3   .850 26 8   .765
Kent State 16 4   .800 23 11   .676
Ohio 14 6   .700 25 10   .714
Akron 14 6   .700 24 10   .706
Buffalo 13 6   .684 19 11   .633
Ball State 9 10   .474 14 17   .452
Miami (OH) 8 12   .400 14 18   .438
Central Michigan 6 12   .333 7 23   .233
Bowling Green 6 14   .300 13 18   .419
Northern Illinois 6 14   .300 9 21   .300
Eastern Michigan 5 15   .250 10 21   .323
Western Michigan 4 16   .200 8 23   .258
2022 MAC Tournament winner

The 2021–22 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by fifth-year head coach John Groce, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 14–6 in MAC play to finish a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed, they defeated Buffalo, Toledo, and Kent State to win the MAC Tournament. They received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 13 seed in the East Region, where they lost in the First Round to UCLA.

Previous season[]

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Zips finished the 2020–21 season 15–8, 12–6 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Bowling Green in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament before losing to Buffalo in the semifinals.

Roster[]

2021–22 Akron Zips men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G/F 0 Michael Wynn 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Jr Wake Forest Albany, NY
G 2 Greg Tribble 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Huntington Prep Cincinnati, OH
G 3 Kobe Mitchell 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Harrison Central HS Cadiz, OH
G 4 Bryan Trimble Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 203 lb (92 kg) Jr St. John's Kansas City, MO
G 11 Garvin Clarke 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 184 lb (83 kg) Fr Cleveland Heights HS Euclid, OH
G 12 Pat Mayfield 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Burlington Central HS Elgin, IL
G 13 Xavier Castaneda 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Jr South Florida Chicago, IL
G 20 Evan Wilson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Noblesville HS Noblesville, IN
C 21 Aziz Bandaogo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr NBA Academy Africa Dakar, Senegal
G/F 22 Mikal Dawson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 222 lb (101 kg) So Huntington Prep Huntington, WV
F 23 Sekou Kalle 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Fr DeSales HS Louisville, KY
G/F 24 Ali Ali 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 196 lb (89 kg) So East Noble HS Kendallville, IN
F 25 Enrique Freeman 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) So St. Martin de Porres HS Cleveland, OH
G 34 Nate Johnson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 204 lb (93 kg) Fr Lakota East HS Liberty Township, OH
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: January 29, 2022

Schedule and results[]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at West Virginia
Charity Exhibition
L 59–74 
 13  Ali   4  Castaneda   11  Freeman  WVU Coliseum (9,434)
Morgantown, WV
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2021*
6:00 pm, ESPN2
at No. 17 Ohio State L 66–67  0–1
 17  Ali   9  Freeman   2  Tied  Value City Arena (11,947)
Columbus, OH
November 13, 2021*
7:00 pm
Point Park W 102–46  1–1
 18  Freeman   14  Freeman   6  Walton  James A. Rhodes Arena (2,022)
Akron, OH
November 18, 2021*
7:00 pm
Wheeling W 99–38  2–1
 15  Freeman   13  Freeman   3  Tied  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,620)
Akron, OH
November 22, 2021*
5:00 pm, FloHoops
vs. Fordham
Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals
L 43–63  2–2
 9  Freeman   11  Freeman   2  Dawson  Hertz Arena (370)
Estero, FL
November 23, 2021*
1:30 pm, FloHoops
vs. Appalachian State
Gulf Coast Showcase Consolation 2nd Round
L 45–57  2–3
 15  Freeman   10  Freeman   3  Clarke  Hertz Arena (401)
Estero, FL
November 24, 2021*
11:00 am, FloHoops
vs. Evansville
Gulf Coast Showcase 7th place game
W 69–60  3–2
 20  Ali   10  Freeman   3  2 tied  Hertz Arena (150)
Estero, FL
December 1, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Marshall W 88–86  4–3
 24  Freeman   14  Freeman   5  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,752)
Akron, OH
December 4, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Southern W 79–62  5–3
 19  Tribble   13  Freeman   7  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,690)
Akron, OH
December 12, 2021*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Florida A&M W 73–66  6–3
 17  Castaneda   11  Freeman   5  Castaneda  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,529)
Akron, OH
December 15, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Wright State W 66–48  7–3
 12  Holden   7  Basile   2  Holden  Nutter Center (3,503)
Dayton, OH
December 20, 2021*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Radford Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Akron James A. Rhodes Arena 
Akron, OH
MAC regular season
January 1, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Buffalo W 88–76  8–3
(1–0)
 32  Ali   10  Freeman   4  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,510)
Akron, OH
January 4, 2022
6:00 pm, CBSSN
Ohio L 63–69  8–4
(1–1)
 22  Ali   10  Freeman   4  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,750)
Akron, OH
January 11, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Ball State W 84–74  9–4
(2–1)
 29  Castaneda   12  Freeman   6  Castaneda  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,815)
Akron, OH
January 14, 2022
8:00 pm, CBSSN
at Kent State L 55–67  9–5
(2–2)
 21  Castaneda   7  Freeman   3  Tribble  MAC Center (1,791)
Kent, OH
January 18, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Western Michigan W 74–73  10–5
(3–2)
 18  Ali   8  Freeman   6  Castaneda  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,611)
Akron, OH
January 20, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Bowling Green
Rescheduled from December 29
W 91–66  11–5
(4–2)
 33  Trimble Jr.   10  Freeman   6  Castaneda  Stroh Center (1,867)
Bowling Green, OH
January 22, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Eastern Michigan W 46–44  12–5
(5–2)
 15  Ali   14  Freeman   3  Castaneda  James A. Rhodes Arena (2,090)
Akron, OH
January 25, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Central Michigan W 60–56  13–5
(6–2)
 16  Freeman   11  Freeman   4  Tribble  McGuirk Arena (1,156)
Mount Pleasant, MI
January 28, 2022
7:00 pm, CBSSN
at Toledo L 76–84  13–6
(6–3)
 18  Trimble Jr.   10  Freeman   4  2 tied  Savage Arena (5,489)
Toledo, OH
February 4, 2022
7:30 pm, CBSSN
Miami (OH) W 66–55  14–6
(7–3)
 21  Freeman   13  Freeman   4  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,794)
Akron, OH
February 6, 2022
2:00 pm, ESPN3
at Miami (OH)
Rescheduled from January 8
W 71–59  15–6
(8–3)
 21  Ali   10  Freeman   3  Freeman  Millett Hall (1,597)
Oxford, OH
February 8, 2022
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Northern Illinois W 70–64  16–6
(9–3)
 21  Freeman   13  Freeman   5  Ali  Convocation Center 
DeKalb, IL
February 11, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN2
Kent State L 64–66  16–7
(9–4)
 21  Freeman   13  Freeman   4  Tribble  James A. Rhodes Arena (3,699)
Akron, OH
February 15, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Western Michigan L 57–61 OT 16–8
(9–5)
 16  Freeman   18  Freeman   3  Freeman  University Arena (1,269)
Kalamazoo, MI
February 17, 2022
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Northern Illinois
Rescheduled from January 1
L 63–66  16–9
(9–6)
 20  Ali   11  Freeman   3  Castaneda  Rhodes Arena (2,076)
Akron, OH
February 19, 2022
3:00 pm, ESPN3
at Eastern Michigan W 67–48  17–9
(10–6)
 17  Ali   8  Freeman   3  Freeman  George Gervin GameAbove Center (1,584)
Ypsilanti, MI
February 22, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Bowling Green W 82–68  18–9
(11–6)
 17  2 tied   11  Freeman   6  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (1,830)
Akron, OH
February 25, 2022
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Ohio W 91–83  19–9
(12–6)
 22  Ali   9  Freeman   3  2 tied  Convocation Center 
Athens, OH
March 1, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Ball State W 79–60  20–9
(13–6)
 22  Castaneda   16  Freeman   4  Freeman  Worthen Arena (3,003)
Muncie, IN
March 4, 2022
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Central Michigan W 57–56  21–9
(14–6)
 17  Castaneda   8  Dawson   3  Ali  James A. Rhodes Arena (2,128)
Akron, OH
MAC Tournament
March 10, 2022
1:30 pm, ESPN+
(4) vs. (5) Buffalo
Quarterfinals
W 70–68  22–9
 19  Ali   9  Freeman   4  Castaneda  Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 
Cleveland, OH
March 11, 2022
5:00 pm, CBSSN
(4) vs. (1) Toledo
Semifinals
W 70–62  23–9
 26  Castaneda   10  Freeman   4  Tribble  Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 
Cleveland, OH
March 12, 2022
7:30 pm, ESPN2
(4) vs. (2) Kent State
Championship
W 75–55  24–9
 23  Freeman   8  Freeman   5  Tribble  Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (8,361)
Cleveland, OH
NCAA Tournament
March 17, 2022
6:50 pm, TBS
(13 E) vs. (4 E) No. 11 UCLA
First Round
L 53–57  24–10
 18  Castaneda   10  Freeman   1  Castaneda  Moda Center 
Portland, OR
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.
All times are in Eastern Time.

References[]

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