Akron basketball score, live update vs. Eastern Michigan in MAC opener

The University of Akron men's basketball team hosts Eastern Michigan in its Mid-American Conference opener Friday, Dec. 19.

Akron is the reigning MAC regular season and MAC Tournament champion, and was an NCAA Tournament participate last season.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Check back for live updates from Rhodes Arena.

Here are some pregame notes:

What are Akron and Eastern Michigan's records in men's basketball this season?

Akron enters Friday with an 8-3 record and Eastern Michigan is 6-5.

Akron Zips tune up for MAC play with lots of travel

Akron comes into its MAC opener after losing 115-100 to Murray State in the Jack Jones Classic in Henderson, Nevada on Dec. 13. That followed an 88-71 win at Tulane on Dec. 6.

Those results came after the Zips played in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands four weeks ago. They defeated Iona and Evansville before a loss to Yale in the championship game. They scored at least 94 points in all three games, part of a streak of five straight games of 90-plus points before scoring 88 in the win at Tulane.

"I like our guys and I think offensively, we have been elite," Akron coach John Groce said. "We need to continue to build on that, but defensively we just haven't been good enough. We have got to be way better on that end of the floor. The guys know it. Everybody knows it in our program. We gotta get it to where we are more impactful on that end.

"Offensively, we have been really good. We have gotta get our defense better."

Akron men's basketball record in MAC openers

Akron enters Friday with a 24-9 record in MAC openers since joining the conference ahead of the 1992-1993 season.

Groce is 7-1 in MAC openers as Akron's coach with wins in each of the past seven seasons.

Former Akron coaches Coleman Crawford (2-1), Dan Hipsher (5-4) and Keith Dambrot (10-3) also compiled winning records in MAC openers.

Tavari Johnson leads Akron into men's basketball game against EMU

Tavari Johnson scored 28 points and Sharron Young contributed 20 points in Akron's loss to Murray State.

Akron's Amani Lyles totaled 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Halil "Chabi" Barre contributed 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Murray State separated from Akron with its 3-point shooting. The Racers made 18 of 32 shots from beyond the arc and the Zips made 7 of 18. Layne Taylor made 6 of 9 3s for Murray State in scoring 23 points, one of seven Racers scoring double-figures.

"There are obviously some things we are working on," Groce said of defending 3-point shooters. "A lot of it starts, honestly, with multiple efforts on that end of the floor. I think our guys obviously are very confident in what we bring to the table offensively, but you can't rely on that just to outscore people. We have got to be more impactful on that end of the floor, whether its 3s or other areas that we have got to be better at defensively."

Mohammad Habhab leads the Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

EMU features coach Stan Heath and 6-foot-9 redshirt freshman forward Mohammad Habhab.

"Anytime you are going to play Stan's teams, you gotta be ready to go offensively because they are gritty defensively," Groce said. "He has been be able to have some success here early with some big wins, including one at Cincinnati. They have played both zone and man [defensively] and been successful during stretches with both.

"I think they have got great depth. More depth probably than they have had previously [in recent seasons]. They are really good rebounding the ball. Habhab is maybe as big a surpise as anyone in our league to this point. He leads the league in double-doubles [with five]. He averages [14.9] points and gets [8.1] rebounds a night, and is a plus passer [with 3.2 assists per game]. ... He is a load down there [in the paint]."

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Eastern Michigan vs Akron Zips men's basketball score live updates