The maestro of Akron Zips men’s basketball left the 2025-26 season opener with the best of both worlds.
In one fell swoop, longtime Akron coach John Groce collected valuable lessons to teach his revamped team and secured a confidence-building victory over a quality opponent.
The music wasn’t always beautiful during Akron’s 85-71 nonconference win over James Madison on Nov. 3 at Rhodes Arena, but, in the end, Groce liked what he heard.
“It’s jazz. It’s like a symphony orchestra working together. There’s a connection in basketball that needs to take place, and that happens through reps and through experience,” Groce said shortly after Akron started the season 1-0.
Three of the 10 players Akron used against James Madison had never previously appeared in a Zips game.
Two of them started — wing Evan Mahaffey, a transfer from Ohio State, and guard Eric Mahaffey, his brother who sat out last season with UA after suffering a medial collateral ligament injury in the preseason. Two other Akron starters — forward Amani Lyles and guard Shammah Scott — primarily came off the bench last season.
Like Eric Mahaffey, wing Ognjen Stankovic made his college basketball debut against James Madison. A native of Serbia, Stankovic played professionally overseas before joining Akron.
The Akron men’s basketball team rallied in the second half for a comeback win over James Madison
The combination of new faces and roles suggests Akron may need to iron things out, and Groce certainly encountered a tall task when UA trailed James Madison 39-30 at halftime. In the second half, the Zips looked more comfortable playing together and outscored the Dukes 55-32. Akron closed the game on a 28-10 run.
“I thought the first half they were clearly the better team,” Groce said. “I thought we were disconnected offensively. I thought we had too much hero ball going on — over dribbling. I thought we weren’t getting to our triggers quick enough. Screening action, I thought we really stalled out on that end of the floor.
“Second half, I thought obviously we were more connected. I thought we screened better. The ball moved. I thought we played more unselfishly. I thought we played with more purpose. I thought we were harder to guard.”
Amani Lyles led the Akron Zips with a game-high 22 points vs. James Madison
Lyles scored a career-high and game-high 22 points, including 16 in the second half, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots. Scott scored 17 points, including 12 in the second half. Point guard Tavari Johnson, UA’s lone returning full-time starter from last season, finished with 14 points, including 12 in the second half. Guard Sharron Young added 10 points off the bench.
As for the newcomers, Evan Mahaffey had four points, six rebounds and six assists, Eric Mahaffey had four points and five rebounds and Stankovic had three points and a rebound.
Akron shot 31% from the field in the first half — “I thought we were awful,” Groce said — but 52.9% in the second half. James Madison shot 43.3% from the floor in the first half but 35.5% in the second half.
The main difference between the two halves?
“I’d say it was the defensive end,” Johnson said. “We got stops, which allowed us to run and play faster and do what we wanted to do off the defensive end. We got a lot of turnovers. We were getting steals to start off the half, and it started a lot of energy and momentum.”
UA finished with a 28-4 advantage in points off turnovers and committed eight turnovers against JMU’s 19. The Zips compiled 10 steals, led by Evan Mahaffey’s four, and six blocks, paced by Lyles’ four.
One of Evan Mahaffey’s steals led to him dishing a brotherly assist to Eric Mahaffey for a layup and a 69-64 Akron lead with 5:46 left to play. The Zips started to pull away from the Dukes after back-to-back 3-pointers by Scott turned a two-point UA deficit into a four-point Akron lead with 7:17 remaining.
“We’re an attack organization,” Groce said. “We’re aggressive. We attack. First half, I thought [James Madison] did a lot of the attacking. We weren’t quite as good. But the second half, I thought we were a little bit better.”
Akron Zips receive MAC championship rings
In preseason polls among coaches, Akron was picked to win the Mid-American Conference, and James Madison was chosen as the projected victor of the Sun Belt Conference.
Last season, Akron went 28-7, including 17-1 in the MAC and 16-0 at home. UA set a program record for most wins in a season and captured the MAC regular-season title in addition to the Zips’ second consecutive conference tournament crown. Akron fell 93-65 to Arizona in Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament.
Akron unveiled a March Madness banner and presented its players with MAC championship rings during a ceremony before its game against James Madison, which ended last season 20-12, including 13-5 in the SBC and 5-8 on the road.
Akron picks up victory in MAC-SBC Challenge
The game between Akron and James Madison is part of the MAC-SBC Challenge, a series of nonconference games in its third year of existence. Not far from Akron, Kent State opened its season on Nov. 3 with a 103-97 overtime loss to reigning SBC tourney champion Troy.
“When you’re the road team in February, which is going to be us this year, depending on who you draw, it’s a jaunt now,” Groce said. “It’s not easy for them to get here, meaning to the MAC schools, and for us to get to the Sun Belt schools. It’s a bear. It’s not like, ‘Oh, just fly up to Chicago.’ You’re planes, trains and automobiling it. That’s the only part that’s challenging. But other than that, I love it. We’ve played some really good teams.”
Groce considers James Madison one of those good teams, which made the music Akron ultimately produced soothing to its conductor’s ears.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips basketball overcomes poor start, finds right note vs James Madison. ‘It’s jazz’
Reporting by Nate Ulrich, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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