CLEVELAND — Basketball is generally considered a sport geared toward large human beings, but Akron Zips guard Tavari Johnson is not fazed.
Listed as 5 feet, 11 inches and 160 pounds, Johnson plays as if he's fearless.
With 14 points, seven assists and two steals, Johnson is a gigantic reason the top-seeded Akron men's team opened the Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 96-67 rout of No. 8 Bowling Green in a quarterfinal Thursday at Rocket Arena.
MAC regular-season champion Akron (26-6) advanced to face No. 4 Toledo — a 90-85 winner over No. 5 Ohio in overtime — in a semifinal at 5 p.m. Friday.
As UA headed to Cleveland on a mission to repeat as the MAC tourney champ, coach John Groce had his players prepared to encounter a heavy dose of zone defense from Bowling Green (14-18).
It's why Groce didn't have any qualms about the Zips firing away exclusively from 3-point range in early stages of the game. Akron didn't attempt a 2-point field goal until 11:35 left in the first half and didn't make one until 3:17 remaining before halftime, when forward James Okonkwo made an alley-oop dunk on an assist from Johnson.
In the first half, Akron went 2-of-6 shooting from the field on 2-pointers and 11-of-21 shooting from the floor on 3s. They led 42-30 at halftime and completed the wire-to-wire win by setting a program record for most 3s in a MAC Tournament game (16).
In the late stages of the first half, Bowling Green adjusted and played primarily man defense because of Akron's barrage of 3-pointers. In the second half, Bowling Green continued to predominantly play man and occasionally sprinkled in zone.
UA's offense unleashed the correct counter. Its first three field goals after halftime — all successful — were a layup by Okonkwo and two floaters by Johnson. After Akron had been outscored 14-4 in the paint in the first half, the Zips held a 30-16 advantage in the category after halftime.
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Akron assisted on 21 of its 34 made field goals. A first-team All-MAC selection, Johnson finished 6-of-12 shooting from the field (2 of 6 on 3s).
"He's so smart," Bowling Green coach Todd Simon said of Johnson, a junior. "This is a high-IQ team. They make every right pass. They play with each other. They know when to push, when to pull out and he's the catalyst for that.
"He finds his spots. He hurts you so much from the arc, but you also have to kind of find him. He's slippery in ball screens, and he's definitely the catalyst of this whole thing without a doubt. We wanted to limit him and his playmaking, but it's much easier to stop a scorer than it is to stop a playmaker. And he's a playmaker."
No offense to Akron guard Nate Johnson, but Simon said the MAC Player of the Year "was about the fifth guy we're worried about." Despite Nate Johnson scoring just three points (he also had eight rebounds and five assists), Akron tied a program record for largest margin of victory in a MAC tourney game. The Zips also won by 29 points in 2007, when they thrashed Central Michigan 82-53. UA's depth has been lauded all season, and Simon ran with the the theme by saying, "You could argue that their second five is a top five team in this league."
To Simon's point, Bowen Hardman came off the bench and scored a team-high 17 points for the Zips. He was followed by Seth Wilson (15 points), Tavari Johnson (14), Shammah Scott (14), Sharron Young (12) and Isaiah Gray (11).
They're all guards, but one player stands out among them.
Of the eight teams in the 2025 men's MAC Tournament field, only two have at least one player listed as shorter than 6 feet. They are Akron with Tavari Johnson (5-11) and Wagon Wheel rival Kent State with guards Jalen Sullinger (5-10) and Cian Medley (5-11).
Only five players are listed as weighing 160 pounds or less. They are Tavari Johnson (160), Akron's Young (160), Bowling Green guards Trey Thomas (160) and Javontae Campbell (155) and Eastern Michigan guard Jalen Terry (155).
Playing among figurative trees has become natural for Akron's smallest player.
Akron Zips column: UA has shown mental toughness and needs more of it to win MAC basketball tourney
"To be honest, I'm not really thinking when I'm out there," Tavari Johnson said. "It's kind of just a reaction thing for me. Obviously, I know I got to be aggressive for my team, and that's going to open my teammates up when I'm being aggressive. But if [the defenders] help, I pass. If they don't, then I'm going to score. I have the ability to do both, and I know that. My teammates trust me to make decisions and make the right reads for them, so I just go out there and be confident for the team."
Confidence is needed, especially when tournament time arrives. Akron showed plenty of it by crushing an opponent it edged 71-68 on Jan. 3 at Bowling Green.
As the MAC Tournament began, Tavari Johnson set the tone for Akron in every way.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tavari Johnson key to Akron Zips' MAC Tournament win vs Bowling Green
