March Madness | What to know about Akron vs. Creighton in 2024 NCAA Tournament Round of 64

The University of Akron men's basketball team is in Pittsburgh to meet Creighton at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at PPG Paints Arena for a chance to win a NCAA Division I Tournament game.

Akron (24-10) is the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Regional and Creighton (23-9) is the No. 3 seed.

This is Akron's sixth appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament, and the Zips are seeking their first win. Coach John Groce guided Akron to the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where the Zips lost to UCLA.

Former Akron coach Bob Huggins led the Zips to the 1986 NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Michigan.

Former Akron coach Keith Dambrot, who this year has led Duquense into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977, took the Zips to three March Madness appearances. Akron lost to Gonzaga in 2009, Notre Dame in 2011 and Virginia Commonwealth in 2013.

Is this the year Akron wins a NCAA Division I Tournament game?

Here are four things to know heading into the matchup:

Akron Zips men's basketball projected starters for March Madness

Akron's starting five is expected to be 6-foot-7 senior Enrique Freeman, 6-8 senior Ali Ali, 6-0 senior Sammy Hunter, 6-3 senior guard Greg Tribble Jr. and 6-3 sophomore Nate Johnson.

Freeman, the nation's leading rebounder, was named to the Associated Press All-America Team as an Honorable Mention on Tuesday.

Freeman was busy earning awards last week, too, as he was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and MAC Tournament MVP, and earned spots on the All-MAC First Team, All-MAC Defensive Team and All-MAC Tournament Team.

Freeman is averaging 18.6 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.6 assists this season.

Ali is averaging 15.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Tribble is averaging 10.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Hunter is at 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds. Johnson is at 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds.

Creighton Bluejays men's basketball projected starters for NCAA Tournament

Creighton is the only NCAA Division I men's basketball team with three players averaging 17 or more points per game: 6-7 senior guard Baylor Scheierman (18.4), 6-4 junior Trey Alexander (17.6) and 7-1 senior center Ryan Kalkbrenner (17.1).

Scheierman is also averaging 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, Alexander is averaging 5.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists and Kalkbrenner is at 7.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks.

Creighton's other starters are 6-1 senior Steven Ashworth (10.7 points, 4.2 assists) and 6-9 sophomore Mason Miller (5.7 points).

"Creighton has good players," Hunter said. "It is going to be a fun game. The mindset is to go in there and try to take it one possession at a time, try to win the game and just be us."

This will be the fifth matchup between Akron and Creighton. The Bluejays beat the Zips in the 2006 National Invitation Tournament. The Zips beat the Bluejays in a regular season game in 2011. Creighton won regular-season games in 2012 and 2016.

Who are Akron basketball's newcomers to the NCAA Tournament?

Groce generally plays eight to 10 players in his rotation. Freeman, Ali and Tribble started against UCLA in 2022. So did Mikal Dawson, who is now a senior reserve.

"It means a lot to be back in the NCAA Tournament," Dawson said. "You get to go back there with your teammates, who you consider your brothers as well. You got four guys on the team that have already been there, so they kind of already know how everything is going to go."

Hunter, senior Kaleb Thornton, junior Shammah Scott, sophomores Nate Johnson, Tavari Johnson, Amani Lyles and freshman Ryan Prather Jr. have not played in a NCAA Tournament game.

"I am happy for Sammy and Kaleb, and this being their first time winning their conference championship and going to the NCAA Tournament as seniors," Dawson said.

Hunter is in his second season at Akron after previously playing at Mississippi. Thornton and Scott are both in their first season at Akron after transferring from Northern Illinois and Wichita State, respectively.

"I just love all of these guys to death," Scott said. "Love coming to practice with them. We are ready to work every single day. It has been a great experience with the coaching staff and I wouldn't trade anything for it.

"... Personally, I didn't know any of these guys [last year at this time]. I knew of them because, obviously, I watch basketball, but I never knew any of them personally. When I went on my visit and I actually met these guys I thought, 'Oh, yeah we are going to have a really good team. They are actually good people who are going to help me get comfortable.'"

Akron men's basketball's NCAA Tournament history

Akron's first season as a Division I college basketball team was 1980-81. In addition to being 0-5 in the NCAA Tournament, the Zips are 3-7 in the National Invitation Tournament and 0-1 in the College Basketball Invitational.

Before that, Akron made nine appearances in the NCAA College Division Tournament: 1958 with coach Russ Beichly; 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967 with coach Tony Laterza; and 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975 with coach Wyatt Webb.

Akron posted a 21-9 postseason record during that period and was the NCAA College Division Tournament national runner-up in 1964 and 1972.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: What to know when Akron basketball plays Creighton in March Madness