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Evan Mahaffey, Tavari Johnson lead Akron to basketball win over Buffalo

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Senior Evan Mahaffey became the 10th University of Akron men’s basketball player to record a career-high in points in a game this season Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Rhodes Arena.

Mahaffey played his usual role of making an impact all over the court in Akron’s 99-85 win over Buffalo in a Mid-American Conference game.

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The Zips (23-5, 14-1) won their 30th game in a row at home, matching a program record from 2015-2017, and tying No. 1 Duke (26-2, 14-1 ACC) and No. 21 Miami of Ohio (28-0, 15-0 MAC) for the longest active streak in the country.

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Akron Zips vs UMass, Mid-American Conference basketball game photos

University of Akron Zips men’s basketball players warmup before a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Mahaffey scored 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field and made all four of his free throws. He also had nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in 32 minutes.

“He was great,” Akron coach John Groce said. “I thought he attacked. He drove it. Made good plays. He is so unselfish, such a great passer and then he was really good on the defensive backboard, too, which is fantastic.

“… Evan’s an awesome dude. Great person. Great teammate. Hard worker. Coachable. He’s fantastic. He just keeps getting better.”

Akron Zips’ Evan Mahaffey (12) works the floor in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Akron Zips’ Evan Mahaffey (12) works the floor in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Mahaffey stole a Buffalo inbound pass to begin the second half and proceeded to make a layup and a free throw to give Akron a 42-35 lead with 19:57 remaining. His 3-point play started Akron’s 39-18 run to open the second half.

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“He did that on his own,” Groce said. “He has great instincts. Tonight, I know he had 20 and nine, but the thing I appreciate about Evan is he touches like every area of the game.

“You’ll pick up the stat sheet on most nights and you’ll see, OK, whatever, he has eight-nine-10 points, five-six-seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks. He just contributes in all areas. There isn’t an area he doesn’t contribute in. He’s kind of like a utility knife. Just a smorgasbord guy, and man, it’s great to have a guy like that. So versatile. I think his brother [Akron redshirt freshman Eric Mahaffey] does some of those same things, ironically, and has gotten a lot better as well.”

Evan Mahaffey said his teammates and coaches “instill a lot of confidence in me.” He was happy how he and his teammates “used their speed” and “got a lot of easy buckets in transition” in the second half.

Akron Zips’ Tavari Johnson (5) dribbles in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Akron Zips’ Tavari Johnson (5) dribbles in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Senior Tavari Johnson led Akron with 23 points and five assists in 30 minutes. Johnson, a MAC Payer of the Year candidate, made 5 of 11 shots from the field, including 2 of 5 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 11 of 11 free throws.

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“We played well with five guys in double digits,” said Johnson, who has scored 19 or more points in 19 games this season, including a career-high 35 points in a 97-94 loss to Yale on Nov. 24.

“A lot of guys contributed and were out there making plays, but at the end we turned the ball over a lot. We gotta be more strong with the ball at the end of games when we are getting pressed.”

Groce continues to be pleased by Johnson, who is 19th on Akron’s career scoring list with 1,311 points.

“I think what’s the most impressive thing about him is he’s been on winning teams while he’s done this scoring,” Groce said. “He’s done it efficiently. Meaning efficient from two, efficient from three, efficient from the free throw line. He’s always been a plus assist-to-turnover ratio guy. He’s done it efficiently and on winning teams. … I’m really proud of how much he’s developed and how much better he’s gotten.”

Akron’s Amani Lyles dribbles around Toledo defensive pressure, Jan. 27, 2026.

Akron’s Amani Lyles dribbles around Toledo defensive pressure, Jan. 27, 2026.

Akron senior Amani Lyles totaled 19 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. He shot 7 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

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“We came out in the second half on a good run,” said Lyles, who has scored 19 or more points in eight games this season, including a career-high 26 points in a 78-65 win over Ball State on Feb. 20.

“They turned us over at the end. That’s unacceptable. Way too may turnovers, and we’ll work on that.”

University of Akron’s Eric Mahaffey (4) shoots over University of Toledo’s Sean Craig (7), Jan. 27, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

University of Akron’s Eric Mahaffey (4) shoots over University of Toledo’s Sean Craig (7), Jan. 27, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Eric Mahaffey contributed 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Fifth-year senior Shammah Scott made 3 of 4 3-pointers, including one to end the first half, and finished with 13 points and three assists.

“Just based on our depth, the type of team we have, anybody can go off,” Lyles said. “We’re unselfish. We share the ball and we kind of just played through Ev today.”

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Akron shot 55.2% from the field (32 of 58), including 42.9% from beyond the 3-point arc (9 of 21), and 89.7% from the free throw line (26 of 29). The Zips led by 25 points four times (78-53, 80-55, 82-57 and 84-59), but the Bulls rallied to trail 95-83 in the final minute.

“It’s February going into March,” Evan Mahaffey said. “We need to start playing complete games and not playing spurts of really good basketball and then not so good basketball. I think we need to focus on that more than anything.”

Akron made 17 turnovers and Buffalo grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, stats that frustrated Groce and his players.

Akron Zips’ coach John Groce applauds during a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Akron Zips’ coach John Groce applauds during a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Groce described Akron’s play in the first 20 minutes as “terrible,” and added the Zips “were fortunate to be up [39-35 at halftime].”

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“The next 15 minutes to start the second half, I don’t know if we’ve played better all year,” Groce said. “We were unbelievable. Shot making, unselfishness, defense, the whole nine.

“Then obviously, the last five minutes we embarrassed [basketball inventor James] Naismith. It was awful. Horrendous. … A lot of these older guys gotta take a little better care of the ball and they know that.”

Akron Zips’ Shammah Scott (1) dribbles in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Akron Zips’ Shammah Scott (1) dribbles in a game against UMass, Feb. 13, 2026, at James A Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio.

Buffalo (16-12, 6-9) was led by junior Ryan Sabol (28 points, nine rebounds), graduate student Angelo Brizzi (23 points), sophomore Daniel Freitag (16 points) and senior Noah Batchelor (seven points).

Brizzi previously played at Longwood, Davidson and Villanova. Freitag was at Wisconsin last season and Batchelor is in his second season at Buffalo following two seasons at Maryland.

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“They were really physical coming out and really aggressive,” Lyles said. “We know that is how it’s going to be in the MAC Tournament [next month].”

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Tavari Johnson, Akron basketball top Buffalo to extend home win streak

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