1985–86 Akron Zips men's basketball team

1985–86 Akron Zips men's basketball
1985–86 Akron Zips men's basketball
OVC tournament champions; OVC Regular season co-champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	22–8 (10–4 MAC)
Head coach	Bob Huggins (2nd season);
Home arena	James A. Rhodes Arena
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Akron †	10	–	4	.714	22	–	8	.733
Middle Tennessee	10	–	4	.714	23	–	11	.676
Murray State	8	–	6	.571	17	–	12	.586
Austin Peay	8	–	6	.571	14	–	14	.500
Youngstown State	8	–	6	.571	14	–	15	.483
Tennessee Tech	6	–	8	.429	14	–	15	.483
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	9	.357	10	–	18	.357
Morehead State	1	–	13	.071	8	–	19	.296

† 1986 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1985–86 Akron Zips men's basketball team represented the University of Akron during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Zips, led by second-year head coach Bob Huggins, played their home games at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 22–8, 10–4 in OVC play to finish in first place. They defeated Austin Peay, Tennessee Tech, and Middle Tennessee State to win the OVC tournament. The Zips received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region, they lost in the first round to Michigan.^[2]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F		Marcel Boyce	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr

Head coach

Bob Huggins (West Virginia)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 26, 1985*		Davis & Elkins	W 93–70	1–0	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,766) Akron, Ohio
Nov 30, 1985*		at Bowling Green State	W 90–85	2–0	Anderson Arena (1,911) Bowling Green, Ohio
Dec 5, 1985*		at Ohio State	L 73–91	2–1	St. John Arena (10,998) Columbus, Ohio
Dec 7, 1985*		at Kent State	L 60–66	2–2	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (4,617) Kent, Ohio
Dec 10, 1985*		at Cleveland State	L 76–88	2–3	Woodling Gym (1,727) Cleveland, Ohio
Dec 14, 1985*		Maryland-Eastern Shore	W 84–56	3–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,592) Akron, Ohio
Dec 21, 1985*		Hiram	W 102–59	4–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,475) Akron, Ohio
Dec 28, 1985*		Morgan State	W 79–56	5–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,241) Akron, Ohio
Dec 30, 1985*		Ashland	W 84–58	6–3	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,356) Akron, Ohio
OVC regular season
Jan 4, 1986		at Youngstown State	W 64–62	7–3 (1–0)	Beeghly Center (5,807) Youngstown, Ohio
Jan 11, 1986		Eastern Kentucky	W 63–55	8–3 (2–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,217) Akron, Ohio
Jan 13, 1986		Morehead State	W 85–75	9–3 (3–0)	James A. Rhodes Arena (1,486) Akron, Ohio
Jan 16, 1986*		at UNC Wilmington	W 82–73	10–3	Trask Coliseum (1,920) Wilmington, North Carolina
Jan 18, 1986		at Austin Peay	W 77–67	11–3 (4–0)	Winfield Dunn Center (4,153) Clarksville, Tennessee
Jan 20, 1986		at Murray State	L 77–83	11–4 (4–1)	Racer Arena (4,000) Murray, Kentucky
Jan 22, 1986*		Urbana	W 117–79	12–4	James A. Rhodes Arena (2,108) Akron, Ohio
Jan 25, 1986		at Tennessee Tech	W 64–54	13–4 (5–1)	Eblen Center (5,187) Cookeville, Tennessee
Jan 27, 1986		at Middle Tennessee	L 78–86	13–5 (5–2)	Murphy Center (4,000) Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Jan 29, 1986*		at UCF	W 81–70	14–5	Education Gymnasium (212) Orlando, Florida
Feb 1, 1986		Youngstown State	L 62–65	14–6 (5–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,552) Akron, Ohio
Feb 3, 1986*		at Detroit Mercy	W 53–51	15–6	Calihan Hall (1,843) Detroit, Michigan
Feb 8, 1986		Middle Tennessee	W 72–70	16–6 (6–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,023) Akron, Ohio
Feb 10, 1986		Tennessee Tech	W 79–69	17–6 (7–3)	James A. Rhodes Arena (3,358) Akron, Ohio
Feb 15, 1986		at Morehead State	W 67–64	18–6 (8–3)	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,000) Morehead, Kentucky
Feb 17, 1986		at Eastern Kentucky	L 64–84	18–7 (8–4)	Alumni Coliseum (1,900) Richmond, Kentucky
Feb 22, 1986		Murray State	W 76–57	19–7 (9–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (7,131) Akron, Ohio
Feb 24, 1986		Austin Peay	W 84–72	20–7 (10–4)	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,511) Akron, Ohio
OVC tournament
Mar 4, 1986*		Tennessee Tech Semifinals	W 67–58	21–7	James A. Rhodes Arena (5,582) Akron, Ohio
Mar 5, 1986*		Middle Tennessee Championship game	W 68–63^[3]	22–7	James A. Rhodes Arena (6,701) Akron, Ohio
NCAA tournament
Mar 14, 1986*	(15 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Michigan First Round	L 64–70	22–8	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (27,454) Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1985-86 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary
^ "Midwest Regional". The Los Angeles Times. March 15, 1986. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ "Akron 68, Middle Tennessee St. 63". AP News. March 9, 1986. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
^ "Akron Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

[1] sports-reference.com 1985-86 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "Midwest Regional". The Los Angeles Times. March 15, 1986. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

[3] "Akron 68, Middle Tennessee St. 63". AP News. March 9, 1986. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

[4] "Akron Basketball Record Book" (PDF). University of Akron Athletics. Retrieved April 30, 2022.

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v t e Akron Zips men's basketball
Venues	Crouse Gymnasium (1902–1920s) Akron Armory (1920s–1954) Memorial Hall (1954–1983) James A. Rhodes Arena (1983–present)
Culture & lore	Zippy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25