Here's what Akron Zips men's basketball must do to enter MAC Tournament mode the right way

The microphone University of Akron men's basketball coach John Groce grabbed didn't malfunction.

Zips fans heard Groce get choked up while he spoke to commemorate UA's senior day before Akron defeated Northern Illinois 80-73 on Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.

After the Zips ensured they would remain atop the Mid-American Conference standings by holding off the feisty Huskies, Groce said the team's seniors have been “everything” to the program because “they bought into the championship vision.”

The work is far from done, though.

With two regular-season games left, Akron knows it would be wise to check items off a to-do list of sorts because the Zips hope to enter the March 14-16 MAC Tournament as the best version of themselves.

“It's more about the standard of which we play at, bigger than even the winning or the losing,” Groce said. “Because I know if we play at that standard, our chances to get the result we want are pretty good, but we've got to be better.”

Here's what Akron (21-8, 13-3) will look to accomplish at home Tuesday against Eastern Michigan (12-17, 5-11) and on the road Friday versus Western Michigan (11-18, 8-8) in an effort to gear up for tournament time at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in downtown Cleveland.

Akron Zips seek a more consistent level of focus throughout the game

Akron led Northern Illinois (10-9, 4-12) by 12 points when senior guard Kaleb Thornton made a 3-pointer with about three minutes left to play.

But some defensive lapses, turnovers and missed free throws allowed NIU to cut UA's lead to four points with 23.8 left and again with 16.9 seconds remaining.

Sure, Akron improved to 13-0 at home this season, but why did it have trouble closing?

Groce said the Zips have had too many mental errors lately, citing examples in losses at Ohio, Toledo and James Madison along with a win at Buffalo. The pattern resurfaced late against NIU.

“It starts between our ears,” Groce said. “We've got to be sharper mentally than what we are right now, and we've got to figure out how to help the guys more.”

Aside from the Zips playing hard and for one another, fully locking in is a main tournament ingredient in the eyes of senior guard Ali Ali.

“As the competition rises, as the scores start to get closer, the room for error minimizes, and at the end of the day you're not going to stop a team from scoring, so you already know you're at a disadvantage,” said Ali, who compiled 17 points, six rebounds and four assists against NIU. “So we just can't add to that [with self-inflicted mistakes], and I feel like we were just doing that a lot.”

Defense, defense, defense. Zips coach John Groce can't get enough of it

After trailing 37-34 at halftime, Akron limited Northern Illinois to just 10 points for nearly the first 10 minutes of the second half. The stretch of dominance allowed UA to take control.

If the Zips can defend with similar zest for the majority of a game, their competition will have a tough time preventing them from winning their second MAC Tournament in three seasons. Akron captured its first MAC tourney crown of the Groce era in 2022 and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where UA lost 57-53 to UCLA in the first round.

“Definitely tonight I don't think we played defense the full 40 minutes,” said UA senior forward Enrique Freeman, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots on Saturday. “I think we kind of messed up a little bit on that.

“With every game, you kind of got to go back to the drawing board and try to figure out what you did wrong. But as a collective, I feel like everyone needs to play better in order for us to be as successful as we want. And we'll get there. I believe we'll get there.”

Northern Illinois' David Coit gave Akron a refresher on what it's like to encounter an elite scorer

If it weren't for Huskies junior guard David Coit, UA likely would have blown out NIU.

Coit played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 37 points on 13-of-29 shooting from the field.

“Coit was unbelievable — just a phenomenal performance by him,” Groce said. “He asked me there on the sideline, 'What defense are you going to be in?' [We were] kind of joking around. I said, 'Which one do you want me to play? None of them have stopped you. I'll let you choose.' So he was incredible.”

Groce explained the last time Akron had as hard a time with an individual player was when junior guard Tucker DeVries scored 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting to lead Drake to a 79-59 win over UA on Nov. 21.

Freeman said UA needed to boost its ball-screen coverage to better contain Coit. It's a good reminder because the most prolific scorers usually shine brightest in tournament settings.

Akron needs to help Nate Johnson knock off the proverbial rust

Zips redshirt sophomore guard Nate Johnson has played two games since returning to action from a broken hand he suffered Jan. 12 against Buffalo.

In 14 minutes Saturday, Johnson had five points on 1-of-6 shooting, three rebounds and an assist. In Johnson's first game back, a 74-67 road loss to Ohio on Tuesday, he logged 25 minutes, scored seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists.

Groce revealed he didn't plan to play Johnson so much against Ohio, but it happened because Ali had experienced foul trouble.

“The other night, I thought he was in rhythm,” Groce said. “Tonight, not so much. Struggled a little bit, and I got on him, but I probably need to have a little perspective and say, 'Hey, wait a minute. Now, this dude has played in two games and had two live practices in the last five weeks.'

“But that's not my style. He knows that, so he's going to be held accountable to the same standards as everybody else, but he'll play better. Got in a little bit of foul trouble [with four fouls] tonight, made a couple bad decisions with the ball. He'll play batter. We're very blessed … he has a chance to get acclimated heading into Cleveland.”

Former Kent State player honored: 97 candles just the latest feat for Akron North High School graduate on lifetime basketball odyssey

Johnson started 15 of the 16 games in which he appeared before his injury occurred. Now he's coming off the bench. He's averaging 8.2 points on 46% shooting from the field and 3.2 rebounds this season.

“We love Nate,” Freeman said. “Nate adds so much to our team. He's so good defensively, so he adds that defensive aspect. We're just trying to do our best as a team to help him come back with the same energy that he started with this year. So we're trying to help him get back in the flow of the game, get comfortable with playing and everything. So we're super excited for him.”

Akron Zips women's basketball news: Reagan Bass and Morgan Haney lead win over Northern Illinois as UA stays alive in MAC race

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron men's basketball seeks improvement before MAC tourney