CLEVELAND — The University of Akron men’s basketball team meets the University at Buffalo on Thursday, March 12, in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Akron (26-5, 17-1) is the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament and Buffalo (17-14, 7-11) is the No. 7 seed.
Akron finished second behind Miami (31-0, 18-0) in the MAC standings. The RedHawks were upset 87-83 by No. 8 Massachusetts in Thursday’s first game.
Tipoff is set for around 4 p.m. Return throughout the night for live updates from Rocket Arena.
Click below throughout the a game for live updates.
Akron leads Buffalo 61-50 with 9:18 remaining in the second half
Akron leads Buffalo 61-50 with 9:18 remaining in the second half.
Ryan Sabol makes a 3-pointer to trim Akron’s lead to 11 points. Sabol has 16 points for Buffalo and Angel Brizzi is at 12 points.
Tavari Johnson has 21 points for Akron. Evan Mahaffey and Shammah Scott have 10 points apiece.
Akron leads Buffalo 57-41 with 11:49 remaining in the second half
Akron leads Buffalo 57-41 with 11:49 remaining in the second half. Amani Lyles with a layup and Shammah Scott with a 3-pointer a moment ago.
Tavari Johnson leads Akron with 19 points.
Akron leads Buffalo 50-36 with 15:19 remaining in the second half
Akron leads Buffalo 50-36 with 15:19 remaining in the second half.
Evan Mahaffey made a 3-pointer and Amani Lyles made a layup a moment ago.
Tavari Johnson leads Akron with 17 points, Evan Mahaffey has eight points and Shammah Scott has seven points.
Akron leads Buffalo 42-29 at halftime
Akron leads Buffalo 42-29 at halftime. The Zips end the first half on a 26-7 run.
Tavari Johnson leads Akron with 15 points. Shammah Scott has seven points. Evan Mahaffey and Bowen Hardman have five points apiece.
Angelo Brizzi leads Buffalo with 10 points, Ryan Sabol has seven points and Noah Batchelor is at six points.
Akron leads Buffalo 42-27 with 1:55 remaining in the first half
Akron leads Buffalo 42-27 with 1:55 remaining in the first half after a layup by Evan Mahaffey.
Tavari Johnson made two free throws to give Akron a 40-27 lead with 2:41 to go in the first half.
Johnson has 15 points.
Akron is on a 26-7 run.
Akron leads Buffalo 34-25 with 3:50 remaining in the first half
Akron leads Buffalo 34-25 with 3:50 remaining in the first half.
Akron’s on a 18-5 run. The Zips largest lead was 34-22 following a Shammah Scott floater in the paint.
The run started with a Tavari Johnson layup and two-hand slam dunk, and also includes a 3-pointer by Johnson.
Johnson has 13 points and Scott has seven points.
Akron leads Buffalo 25-20 with 7:57 remaining in the first half
Akron leads Buffalo 25-20 with 7:57 remaining in the first half.
Evan Mahaffey makes a 2-point field goal and Tavari Johnson swishes a 3-pointer to give the Zips a five-point lead. Timeout Buffalo.
Johnson has 13 points.
Angelo Brizzi has 10 points for Buffalo.
Akron leads Buffalo 16-15 with 10:52 remaining in the first half
Akron leads Buffalo 16-15 with 10:52 remaining in the first half.
Buffalo led 14-9, but Akron rallied with a four-point play (3-pointer and free throw) by Sharron Young and a 3-pointer by Shammah Scott.
Tavari Johnson has six points for Akron
Buffalo leads Akron 10-9 with 15:10 remaining in the first half
Buffalo leads Akron 10-9 with 15:10 remaining in the first half. Angelo Brizzi leads Buffalo with five points.
Tavari Johnson has six points for Akron.
The Zips led 4-0 in the opening moments after Johnson made a 3-pointer and Amani Lyles made 1 of 2 free throws.
Akron Zips in recent Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament action
Akron was the MAC regular-season and MAC Tournament champion, and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2025.
The Zips were also the MAC Tournament champs and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Series history between Akron and Buffalo men’s basketball teams
Akron leads the series with Buffalo 46-33. The Zips have won 11 consecutive games over the Bulls.
Akron is 2-0 against Buffalo in 2025-26, posting an 82-63 win at Alumni Arena on Jan. 20 and a 99-85 victory at Rhodes Arena on Feb. 24.
Akron men’s basketball projected starters vs. Buffalo
- 0 Amani Lyles
- 5 Tavari Johnson
- 12 Evan Mahaffey
- 15 Bowen Hardman
- 21 Zach Halligan
Akron men’s basketball players earn All-Mid-American Conference honors
University of Akron seniors Tavari Johnson and Amani Lyles were among five men’s basketball players selected to the All-Mid-American Conference first team for the 2025-26 season.
The MAC announced its all-conference teams and specialty award winners Wednesday, March 11. All awards were voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches, with coaches unable to vote for their own players.
Johnson earned first-team All-MAC honors for the second consecutive season.
Johnson started all 31 games and leads the MAC in scoring (20.2 average). He is also first in free-throw percentage (89.9), third in assists (160), tied for third in assist average (5.2), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (2.3), 16th in field goal percentage (51.7), 18th in steals (1.2) and 24th in 3-point percentage (37.6).
Johnson, a 6-foot guard, scored a career-high 35 points against Yale in the Paradise Jam and had a career-high 11 assists against Milwaukee. He scored in double figures 29 times, including 25 games with 15 or more points. He recorded five or more assists in 18 games. He also averaged 3.0 rebounds.
Lyles started all 31 games, and is 10th in the MAC in points (460), fourth in rebounds (233) and rebound average (7.5), ninth in field goal percentage (57.2), 10th in 3-point percentage (41.1), tied for 11th in scoring average (14.8) and 19th in free-throw percentage (75.2), tied for 24th in assists (68) and assist average (2.2).
Lyles, a 6-9 forward, scored a career-high 26 points against Ball State and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds against Buffalo. He scored in double figures 25 times, including 16 games with 15 or more points. He recorded seven double-doubles.
Akron graduate student Shammah Scott was named MAC Sixth Man of the Year for the second year in a row.
Scott is the sixth player in Akron program history to earn the Sixth Man of the Year award, and the first Zip to earn it in consecutive seasons. He joins Buffalo’s Nick Perkins (2017-19) as the only players to receive the honor multiple times.
Scott also earned a third-team All-MAC nod after playing in all 31 games, with 12 starts. Scott was tied for third in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.6), 12th in 3-point percentage (42.5), 18th in assists (93), 20th in assists average (3.0), 22nd in points (391) and 23rd in scoring average (12.6). He also averaged 2.6 rebounds.
Scott scored in double-figures 17 times and recorded five or more assists in eight games. He scored a career-high 25 points against Yale in the Paradise Jam.
Lyles and Akron senior Evan Mahaffey were also named to the All-MAC defensive team.
Mahaffey, an All-MAC honorable mention selection, started all 31 games and averaged 10.1 points in his first season at Akron after transferring from Ohio State. Mahaffey tied for second in the MAC in steal average (1.8), tied for third in assist/turnover ratio (2.6), seventh in field-goal percentage (58.3), tied for 12th in assists (109) and assist average (3.5), 16th in rebounds (168) and tied for 19th in rebound average (5.4).
Mahaffey, a 6-6 guard-forward, scored in double figures in 20 games, including a career-high 20 points against Buffalo. He recorded five or more assists in nine games.
Mahaffey’s brother, 6-6 guard-forward Eric Mahaffey, was named to the All-MAC freshman team after averaging 8.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists for Akron. Eric’s 5.9 rebounds a game is No. 11 in the MAC and he is 12th in field-goal percentage (53.5). He scored in double figures nine times, with a season-high 20 points against Iona. He led Akron in rebounds 10 times, including a career-high 13 rebounds against Miami.
Akron and Buffalo men’s basketball coaches at a glance
Akron is led by coach John Groce. He has a 376-225 overall record and a 194-93 mark at Akron.
Buffalo is led by coach George Halcovage III. He has a 30-63 record overall and at Buffalo.
Groce guided Ohio to MAC Tournament championships and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010 and 2012. The Bobcats reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2010 and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2012.
Groce has led Akron to MAC regular season championships in 2020 and 2025, MAC Tournament titles in 2022, 2024 and 2025 and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
Groce is 17-12 overall against Buffalo, including 12-8 as UA coach.
Akron Beacon Journal sports writer Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron basketball score vs. Buffalo, MAC Tournament live updates