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Akron men's basketball score, live updates vs Central Michigan
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- Akron men's basketball score, live updates vs Central Michigan
The University of Akron men's basketball team hosts Central Michigan University on Tuesday, Jan. 6 in its third Mid-American Conference game this season.
Akron is 1-1 in MAC games, having lost to Miami 76-73 on Jan. 3 after defeating Eastern Michigan 93-72 on Dec. 19. The Zips are the reigning MAC regular-season and MAC Tournament champs , and reached the NCAA Tournament last season .
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Central Michigan has lost four games in a row and is 0-7 in away games, including losses to Marquette (85-71) and Wisconsin (88-61).
Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Return throughout the night for live updates from Rhodes Arena .
Akron wins 82-69 against Central Michigan in NCAA men's basketball game
Akron wins 82-69 over Central Michigan.
Akron's Tavari Johnson finishes with 22 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. Shammah Scott scores 19 points, Amani Lyles totals 12 points and seven rebounds, Evan Mahaffey finishes with 10 points and Sharron Young adds in seven points.
Tamario Adley paces Central Michigan with 20 points and six rebounds. Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks scores 17 points and Nathan Claerbaut finishes with 11 points.
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Akron closing in on win over Central Michigan in NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 70-57 with 4:17 to go in the second half.
Tavari Johnson made a 3-pointer prior to the timeout and is a 22 points..
Akron increases lead over Central Michigan in second half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 67-49 with 7:48 to go in the second half.
The Zips are on a 7-0 run with two 3-pointers from Tavari Johnson and a free throw from Eric Mahaffey.
Johnson leads all scorers with 19 points. Shammah Scott is at 16 points for Akron.
Akron leads Central Michigan in second half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 60-47 with 11:33 to go in the second half.
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The Zips and Chipps are trading baskets.
Akron's Shammah Scott leads all scorers with 16 points. Tavari Johnson has 13 points and Evan Mahaffey is at 10 points.
Tamario Adley has 13 points for CMU and Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks is at 11 points.
Akron maintains lead over Central Michigan in second half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 54-41 with 15:43 to go in the second half.
Each team has 11 points in the opening moments of the second half.
Evan Mahaffey has a layup and a two-hand slam dunk to account for four of Akron's 11 points. Tavari Johnson made a 3-pointer, Sharron Young made a 2-point shot and Amani Lyles contributed a two-hand slam dunk.
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Tamario Adley has made three 3-pointers and a 2-point shot to account for all of CMU's 11 points.
Akron leads Central Michigan 43-30 at halftime in NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 43-30 at halftime.
Shammah Scott made a layup and a free throw to give Akron a 39-25 lead with 2:51 remaining in the first half. Scott added an off-balance turnaround jumper with less than a minute on the clock to give him 15 points and conclude the scoring in the first half.
Tavari Johnson has 10 points and five assists for Akron. He is the eighth player in Akron's program history to reach 1,000 career points and 300 career assists.
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Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks has nine points for Central Michigan and Nathan Claerbaut is at seven points.
Akron closing in on halftime lead over Central Michigan in NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 36-25 with 4:00 to go in the first half.
Nathan Claerbaut made a layup and free throw with 5:17 remaining in the first half to end Akron's 10-0 run. Tavari Johnson then made a layup on the next possession.
Akron extends lead over Central Michigan in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 31-22 with 6:13 to go in the first half. Timeout Chipps.
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The Zips are on a 7-0 run with a Tavari Johnson layup, a Shammah Scott 3-pointer and an Eric Mahaffey right-hand slam dunk. Mahaffey recorded a steal that led to his fastbreak jam.
The Zips run reaches 10-0 when Scott makes another 3-pointer, his third of the game, and it is 34-22 with 5:25 remaining in the first half.
Scott has 11 points.
Akron leads Central Michigan in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 26-22 with 7:25 to go in the first half.
Amani Lyles and Tavari Johnson made a layups to give Akron a 20-16 lead after CMU tied the score.
Evan Mahaffey scores four points after those layups and Johnson adds another layup.
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Central Michigan draws even with Akron in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks makes a 3-pointer and Central Michigan draws even with Akron at 16-16 with under 11 minutes go in the first half.
Akron maintains lead over Central Michigan in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 16-13 with 11:44 to go in the first half.
Shammah Scott has five points for Akron.
Keenan Garner made a 3-point play for CMU moments ago with a layup and free throw.
Akron extends lead over Central Michigan in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 13-6 with 15:16 to go in the first half.
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The Zips are on a 5-0 run as Tavari Johnson makes a layup and Shammah Scott swishes a 3-pointer.
Akron leads Central Michigan in first half of NCAA men's basketball game
Akron leads Central Michigan 8-6 with 15:56 to go in the first half.
Evan Mahaffey, Zach Halligan, Tavari Johnson and Amani Lyles have two points apiece for Akron.
Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks has all six points for CMU.
What are Akron and Central Michigan's records in men's basketball this season?
Akron enters Tuesday with a 10-4 overall record and a 1-1 mark in MAC play. Central Michigan is 4-11 overall and 0-3 in MAC play.
Akron's Tavari Johnson shoots a 3-pointer over Central Michigan's Cayden Vasko on Jan. 7, 2025, in Akron.
Akron men's basketball starters vs. Central Michigan
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0 Amani Lyles
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3 Sharron Young
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5 Tavari Johnson
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12 Evan Mahaffey
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21 Zach Halligan
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Central Michigan men's basketball starters vs. Akron
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3 Jaxson Whitaker
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5 Tamario Adley
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10 Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks
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21 Nick Mullen
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32 Nathan Claerbaut
Akron forward Amani Lyles dunks between Kent State center Cli'Ron Hornbeak (42) and guard Jamal Sumlin (4) during the first half, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent.
Akron's leading scorers entering game with Central Michigan
Akron features four players averaging double figures in points, with Tavari Johnson at the top of the list at 20.6 points. Amani Lyles is averaging 15.3 points, Shammah Scott is at 12.6 points and Evan Mahaffey is at 10.3 points.
Eric Mahaffey (8.3 points) and Sharron Young (8.1 points) round out Akron's top six scorers.
Akron has made at least one 3-pointer in its last 819 games, a streak that started during the 2000-01 season.
Central Michigan's leading scorers entering game with Akron
CMU'S leading scorers are Nathan Claerbaut (12.8 points), Tamario Adley (10.6) and Durral "Phat Phat" Brooks (9.7).
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Claerbaut is a 7-foot center who started CMU's first 14 games and then played as a reserve against Toledo on Saturday.
University of Akron coach John Groce encourages the Zips during a game against Central Michigan on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Akron.
A look at Akron coach John Groce and Central Michigan coach coach Andy Bronkema
John Groce is in his ninth season as Akron's head coach and 18th season overall as a head coach with a four-year stint and a five-year stint at Illinois . He has an overall record of 360-224 and a mark of 178-92 with Akron.
The Zips have posted a 147-58 overall record since the 2019-20 season and a 85-28 conference record in that same span under Groce. Akron is 113-15 at home during Groce's time as coach. Akron recorded its 800th win at the Division I level against Concord on Dec. 29, 2025.
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Akron has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament Appearances in 2024 and 2025 with two MAC Tournament titles. Groce is tied with former Zips coach Keith Dambrot for the most tournament titles (three) by one coach in Akron's Division I history.
Central Michigan is led by coach Andy Bronkema, who was the Ferris State University coach from 2013-25 and led it to a 38-1 record and the NCAA Division II national title in 2018. He compiled a record of 278-105 in 12 seasons with nine NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Central Michigan vs Akron Zips men's basketball score live updates
