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'I was telling myself not to wilt': Amani Lyles pushes himself, Akron to NCAA Tournament
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- 'I was telling myself not to wilt': Amani Lyles pushes himself, Akron to NCAA Tournament
With an NCAA Tournament berth at stake, Amani Lyles overcame an internal struggle to grab what coach John Groce has dubbed "as big a rebound as there's been in Akron basketball history."
An Akron Zips junior forward, Lyles won a battle against Miami RedHawks big man Antwone Woolfolk to pull down the crucial rebound with roughly 8 seconds left in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game Saturday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
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Then Lyles turned around and immediately threw an outlet pass to Zips redshirt junior guard Nate Johnson , who finished the dramatic sequence by maneuvering past Miami guard Peter Suder and making the game-winning, floating layup with 2.3 seconds left.
"I was so tired, and I didn't want to go into overtime because I gave everything I had in those last 10 minutes of the game," Lyles told the Beacon Journal. "So I look up the floor. I see Nate on the outlet. My first instinct is to throw it.
"I was telling myself not to wilt, just because of how tired I was, and just to push through. At the end, it paid off. I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that I made it through that moment."
Lyles persevering allowed the Zips to go dancing. He's an under-the-radar hero in Akron punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament .
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Akron rallied from an 18-point, first-half deficit to defeat Miami 76-74 , capturing the MAC Tournament crown and the conference's automatic bid to March Madness for the second consecutive year.
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Now 13th-seeded Akron (28-6) is preparing to face No. 4 Arizona (22-12) at 7:35 p.m. Friday in a first-round NCAA Tournament game in the East Region at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Although the 2024-25 Zips have set an Akron record for most wins in a season, they want to make more history. Akron is 0-6 in Division I NCAA tourney games (1986, 2009, '11, '13, '22 and '24).
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A Columbus native who graduated from Beechcroft High School, Lyles said being on the first UA team to prevail in March Madness "would just complete the season."
Akron's Amani Lyles (0) celebrates with teammate Shammah Scott (1) during the second half against Northern Illinois on Feb. 18, 2025, in Akron, Ohio.
How Zips forwards Amani Lyles and James Okonkwo fit with Akron basketball's guard-dominant offense entering NCAA Tournament
To pull off an upset against Arizona, Akron will need Lyles and senior forward James Okonkwo to relentlessly attack the boards. The Zips deploy a guard-dominant offense with a focus on 3-point shooting. The 6-foot-8 Okonkwo is Akron's starting big man, and the 6-7 Lyles is his backup. They're tasked with earning extra possessions for the Zips on the offensive glass and preventing opponents from second-chance points by gathering defensive rebounds.
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In the MAC Tournament title matchup, Lyles posted a career- and game-high 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive end of the floor. He also scored six points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field, making his lone 3-pointer, and tallied three assists, a steal and a blocked shot in 26 minutes off the bench.
"Throughout the season, I don't think I rebounded to my best ability," said Lyles, whose 2024-25 averages are 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 blocks. "But these last two games, I really locked in and tried to be the best rebounder I know I can be.
"It really showed the last game. It's all effort and just mindset, telling yourself that every time you go, you're going to get a rebound, even though you may get it three out of 10 times."
Akron Zips forward Amani Lyles grabs a rebound over Miami guard Peter Suder (5) during the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game March 15, 2025, in Cleveland.
Lyles, 20, explained the mind games aren't easy to conquer for a player whose role includes extensive dirty work in the paint.
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"It's very exhausting because you're using every part of your body," Lyles, a media studies major at Akron, said. "You're not just running. You're getting hit. You're hitting people, and you're receiving blows. It can wear and tear your body.
"My position coach Dustin Ford, he always says in these moments, champions, they don't wilt. The toughest team, the toughest guy wins, and you can't be soft in those moments. You have to push through. When it comes down to late clock, you have to push through and know that you can't listen to your body because your body's going to tell you to stop, but you have to keep going."
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Akron's Amani Lyles blocks a shot at the rim by Toledo's Isaiah Adams on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025.
Indiana Pacers rookie Enrique Freeman gave Amani Lyles an ideal big-man blueprint with the Zips. Lyles will try to follow it vs. the Arizona Wildcats
Lyles spent the past two seasons at Akron watching Zips great Enrique Freeman showcase the type of resilient motor UA coaches describe as championship material.
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Freeman also provided invaluable leadership, and Lyles took those cues as well.
With Akron trailing Miami in the MAC Tournament championship game, Lyles became increasingly vocal during media timeouts in the first half. He continued to speak up for the duration of the game and explained senior guard Isaiah Gray also gave a halftime speech about Zips players needing to boost their intensity while operating on the same wavelength as each other.
"I saw our guys' faces," Lyles said. "I didn't want them to be defeated because the game was nowhere near over. I didn't want a lick of defeat to be set into our hearts or our minds, and I tried to eliminate it with positivity and optimistic thoughts."
Akron forward Amani Lyles, right, celebrates with teammates after the Zips beat Kent State to win the MAC regular season championship Feb. 28, 2025, in Akron, Ohio.
Groce spoke as if the interactions were vital to the game's outcome.
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"I thought a couple guys had a blank stare, but not Lyles," Groce said. "Lyles encouraged those guys in a couple timeouts, like, 'Follow me. I've got the energy. Follow my energy.' He was telling them, and I thought that was great leadership on his part.
"And he played that way. He played with incredible energy, incredible swagger in a good way. And I thought we really fed off that."
Lyles' contributions are treasured by his teammates.
Akron’s Amani Lyles goes up to defend a shot by Bowling Green’s Javonte Campbell in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal March 13, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Zips' Nate Johnson identifies forward Amani Lyles as a Mid-American Conference all-defensive team snub
The MAC Player of the Year, MAC Defensive Player of the Year and MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, Johnson said he thinks Lyles was snubbed by being kept off the conference's all-defensive team.
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In the crunch time Saturday, Akron junior guard Tavari Johnson contested Miami guard Evan Ipsaro's hook shot before Lyles snagged the rebound. Tavari Johnson said Lyles made a great decision by executing the ensuing outlet pass, even though Tavari Johnson conceded he didn't initially see Nate Johnson running down the floor to gather what would become the game-winning assist.
Lyles thrilled the Zips by displaying clutch awareness and court vision.
"He's a great guy," Tavari Johnson said. "Always joking around, always smiling, always happy, very nice guy. And to the team, he brings energy. He brings a winning mentality. He doesn't let anyone smell the scent that we're about to lose. He doesn't let anyone feel that we're about to lose. He protects the rim. He does everything for us. He's a great piece to the puzzle."
Lyles and the rest of the Zips must be great against Arizona to continue dancing beyond Friday night.
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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips in March Madness with Amani Lyles' clutch play, leadership
