# 2015–16 Akron Zips men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by 12th year head coach Keith Dambrot, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. Akron finished the season 26–9, 13–5 record in conference, winning the East Division title as well as the overall regular season MAC championship. The Zips advanced to the championship of the MAC tournament where they lost to Buffalo. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference title, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Ohio State in the first round.

## Previous season

The Zips finished the 2014–15 season with a 21–14 record, 9–9 in MAC play to finish in fourth place in the East Division. They advanced to the semifinals of the MAC tournament where they lost to Buffalo.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Demetrius Treadwell | 1 | F | 6'7" | 236 | Senior | Euclid, OH | Graduated |
| Nyles Evans | 3 | G | 5'11" | 160 | Senior | North Canton, OH | Graduated |
| Deji Ibitayo | 4 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduated |
| B. J. Gladden | 5 | G/F | 6'6" | 214 | Sophomore | Charlotte, NC | Transferred to Eastern Florida State College |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Craig Eubanks | | G | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Cleveland, OH | Junior college transferred from Missouri State University–West Plains. |

## Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Josh Williams SG | Akron, OH | St. Vincent-St. Mary High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Aug 7, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Peter Agba PF | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Day School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | N/A | Sep 22, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Emmanuel Olojakpoke PF | Houston, TX | Cypress Springs High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Daniel Utomi PF | Houston, TX | Westside High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | N/A | Apr 9, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Isaiah Williams SF | Dayton, OH | Stivers School for the Arts | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Mar 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Tavian Dunn-Martin PG | Huntington, WV | Huntington High School | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | 155 lb (70 kg) | Aug 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 18, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2015* 7:00 pm | | Malone | W 113–69 | | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,088) Akron, OH |
| Non-conference games ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 9:00 pm | | vs. Cleveland State Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off | W 65–53 | 1–0 | MAC Center (5,471) Kent, OH |
| 11/16/2015* 7:00 pm | | Hiram | W 100–30 | 2–0 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,638) Akron, OH |
| 11/18/2015* 8:00 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas NIT Season Tip-Off | W 88–80 | 3–0 | Bud Walton Arena (14,041) Fayetteville, AR |
| 11/22/2015* 4:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 11 Villanova NIT Season Tip-Off | L 56–75 | 3–1 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| 11/24/2015* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay NIT Season Tip-Off | L 63–66 | 3–2 | Resch Center (2,230) Green Bay, WI |
| 11/27/2015* 7:00 pm | | Charleston Southern NIT Season Tip-Off | W 82–58 | 4–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,469) Akron, OH |
| 12/02/2015* 8:00 pm | | Coppin State | W 77–71 | 5–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,903) Akron, OH |
| 12/04/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Marshall | W 75–65 | 6–2 | Cam Henderson Center (4,631) Huntington, WV |
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm | | Bethune-Cookman | W 81–60 | 7–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,828) Akron, OH |
| 12/21/2015* 3:00 pm | | vs. UC Santa Barbara South Point Holiday Hoops Classic | W 84–70 | 8–2 | South Point Arena (250) Enterprise, NV |
| 12/23/2015* 3:00 pm | | vs. Iona South Point Holiday Hoops Classic | W 78–64 | 9–2 | South Point Arena (225) Enterprise, NV |
| 12/30/2015* 7:00 pm | | South Carolina State | W 78–68 | 10–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,741) Akron, OH |
| 01/02/2016* 7:00 pm | | Lipscomb | W 80–73 | 11–2 | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,652) Akron, OH |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| 01/05/2016 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Buffalo | W 75–71 | 12–2 (1–0) | Alumni Arena (2,226) Amherst, NY |
| 01/08/2016 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Western Michigan | W 62–53 | 13–2 (2–0) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,642) Akron, OH |
| 01/12/2016 7:00 pm | | at Central Michigan | L 81–92 | 13–3 (2–1) | McGuirk Arena (2,260) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| 01/15/2016 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Toledo | L 64–78 | 13–4 (2–2) | Savage Arena (5,130) Toledo, OH |
| 01/19/2016 7:00 pm | | Eastern Michigan | W 92–88 | 14–4 (3–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,839) Akron, OH |
| 01/23/2016 7:00 pm | | Miami (OH) | W 75–46 | 15–4 (4–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,686) Akron, OH |
| 01/26/2016 7:00 pm | | Northern Illinois | W 76–66 | 16–4 (5–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,205) Akron, OH |
| 01/30/2016 1:00 pm | | at Ball State | W 73–64 | 17–6 (6–2) | John E. Worthen Arena (3,021) Muncie, IN |
| 02/02/2016 7:00 pm, TWCSC | | at Ohio | W 80–68 | 18–4 (7–2) | Convocation Center (6,403) Athens, OH |
| 02/06/2016 | | Central Michigan | W 92–87 | 19–4 (8–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,829) Akron, OH |
| 02/09/2016 7:00 pm | | at Bowling Green | W 83–68 | 20–4 (8–2) | Stroh Center (1,554) Bowling Green, OH |
| 02/13/2016 4:45 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Illinois | L 79–80 | 20–5 (9–3) | Convocation Center (3,457) DeKalb, IL |
| 02/16/2016 7:00 pm | | Buffalo | W 80–70 | 21–5 (10–3) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,069) Akron, OH |
| 02/19/2016 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Kent State Wagon Wheel Challenge | L 76–85 | 21–6 (10–4) | MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH |
| 02/23/2016 7:00 pm, ASN | | at Miami (OH) | L 64–77 | 21–7 (10–5) | Millett Hall (1,371) Oxford, OH |
| 02/25/2016 | | Bowling Green | W 78–54 | 22–7 (11–5) | James A. Rhodes Arena (4,284) Akron, OH |
| 03/01/2016 8:00 pm, ASN | | Ohio | W 91–76 | 23–7 (12–5) | James A. Rhodes Arena (4,192) Akron, OH |
| 03/04/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Kent State | W 74–60 | 24–7 (13–5) | James A. Rhodes Arena (5,301) Akron, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 12:00 pm, TWCSC/ESPN3 | | vs. Eastern Michigan Quarterfinals | W 65–63 | 25–7 | Quicken Loans Arena (2,217) Cleveland, OH |
| 03/11/2016 9:00 pm, TWCSC/ESPN3 | | vs. Bowling Green Semifinals | W 80–66 | 26–7 | Quicken Loans Arena (6,427) Cleveland, OH |
| 03/12/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Buffalo Championship game | L 61–64 | 26–8 | Quicken Loans Arena (6,719) Cleveland, OH |
| NIT ||||||
| 03/15/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (6) | at (3) Ohio State First round – Monmouth Bracket | L 63–72 $^{OT}$ | 26–9 | Value City Arena (4,698) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||