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Miami's Quinten Rollins draws plenty of attention from Akron defenders during the Zips 65-60 win over MU Saturday. Below, Drew Magee shoots from close range. Left, Julian Mavunga scores against Zeke Marshall. Bottom, Miami unveiled its new scoreboard. Photos by Mike Smith.

Akron (9-6, 1-0) was fueled by a 25-6 advantage in points off turnovers and some lackluster RedHawks defense to slip past MU in the second half.

“I thought we played awful hard, (but) defensively we didn’t do a very good job,” Miami head coach Charlie Coles said. “The second half has cost us (in) our last four defeats.”

DIGGS' DRIVES BRING ZIPS BACK
Miami (4-9, 0-1) led at the half, 29-25, and was out front by a 44-39 count when UA started finding the kind of openings that would have made its 2011 football counterparts jealous. Quincy Diggs started a 10-2 Akron run with two drives as the Zips scored all 10 points off drives or layups.

Akron took a 47-46 lead on a bucket by Treadwell with 8:58 remaining and held it most of the way down the stretch. Miami went out front once more, 54-53 on a layup by senior forward Julian Mavunga at 3:27.

A layup by Alex Abreu and trey by Brian Walsh moved the visitors back out front, 58-54, but MU fought back to tie the contest at 58-all after a Jon Harris runner in the lane with 1:40 remaining.

Diggs, who scored 10 of his 14 points in the final stanza, canned a pair of key free throws at the 1:01 mark. When Mavunga tried to drive the lane on the following possession, Akron’s defense collapsed on him. His pass on the run went out of bounds with 33 seconds remaining, and Abreu quickly added two more free throws to put the hosts up by four at 62-58.
 

MARSHALL LAW
Akron’s 7-0 center, Zeke Marshall, was held to one basket and zero rebounds in the contest. He did, however, register three blocks. One of those came against a Jon Harris drive with 25 seconds remaining.

Senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic stretched the Akron lead to five by sinking one of two free throws with 12 seconds remaining. A jumper by Sewell narrowed it to 63-60 with six ticks left, but Abreu converted two more charity tosses to make it a 65-60 final.

After making 5-of-10 from the stripe in the first half, Akron netted 9-of-11 in the second period to finish 14-of-21 (66.7 percent). Miami made it to the line for 10 shots, sinking nine. Only two RedHawks got a chance to shoot free throws. Mavunga, who entered the game with a double-double average of 19.4 ppg and 10.4 rpg, was good on 7-of-8 at the line. Freshman guard Brian Sullivan made both of his two attempts.

Sullivan (14) and Mavunga (23) were the only RedHawks to reach double figures. For the latter, it was another hard day at the office. For Sullivan, it was another positive step forward as he began to add drives to solid perimeter shooting. He was 4-of-6 from the field overall, with two treys in four attempts.

“I didn’t know if he would score (much) in this game. I thought their physicality would hurt him,” said Coles, who knows what to expect when MAC play rolls around.

AKRON BENCH PLAYS BIG ROLE
Coles was pleased with his squad’s results in limiting Marshall and Cvetinovic, who combined for eight points and two rebounds. However, Akron’s contributions off the bench played a key role in the Zips win.  Joining starter Brian Walsh (13) in double figures were Nick Harney (11 points, 4-of-6 FG, 2-of-2 FT) and Diggs (14 points, 5-of-11 FG, 4-of-5 FT). Akron’s bench outscored MU 32-23, with Sullivan providing 13 of the RedHawks markers.

After hitting 34.8 percent (8-23) from the field in the opening period, Akron connected on 54.5 percent (12-22) after intermission thanks to successful drives and 3-of-4 from behind the arc. The Zips made 7-of-12 treys (58.3 percent) overall.

Miami connected on 45.8 percent (11-24) in the first half and 54.5 percent (12-22) after the break. The RedHawks had one more field goal (23-22) than UA, but the visitors’ five-point advantage at the line equaled the final margin.

THE COST OF TURNOVERS
One of the biggest stats, however, was in points off turnovers. The experienced Akron contingent committed just seven turnovers, whereas the youthful RedHawks had 14 turnovers. Akron cashed in on most, holding a whopping 29-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

“They really hurt us off of our mistakes,” said Mavunga, who joined Coles in combining an “is what it is” with a “be all you can be” mentality. Both know that injuries and issues have left the RedHawks with one option – looking in the mirror for answers.

“It’s something that I think we can fix … if we work really hard collectively,” Mavunga said. “But we have to do it now.”

“I wish we’d win one of these (close games), because I think we are getting better,” Coles said. “You’re seeing a better team play than you saw earlier in the year. … If we can get this down, we can be a pretty dangerous team.”

“I think that we are getting better. We’ve just got to get over the hump,” Mavunga said.