'Wow, what a game': Nate Johnson leads Akron men's basketball to MAC Tournament title
CLEVELAND — Redshirt junior guard Nate Johnson rose to the occasion Saturday night at Rocket Arena and propelled the University of Akron men's basketball team back to the NCAA Tournament.
Johnson, the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, made a game-winning, floating layup with 2.3 seconds remaining to give Akron a 76-74 come-from-behind win over Miami in the MAC Tournament championship game before a crowd of 7,099.
Johnson said he used a move "that we work on in the summer" to maneuver around Miami junior Peter Suder and win Akron's second MAC Tournament title in a row.
"It was the Luka Dončić move where we slow down and go off one [foot]," said Johnson, who totaled 22 points, five assists and two rebounds and was named MAC Tournament MVP.
"In that moment, I just told myself not to rush. If I would have rushed, I probably would've air balled or did something crazy, but just letting the mind do what it do. ... It was kind of in slow motion. Once I picked up the dribble and I saw him try to leap, I knew to instantly go into the Euro step and just try to get around him, try to get a clean shot, a clean look at the rim. I had time."
Johnson's dramatic game-winner came after Miami sophomore Evan Ipsaro missed a hook shot that was contested by Akron junior Tavari Johnson with eight seconds remaining. Akron junior Amani Lyles rebounded Ipsaro's miss and made a long outlet pass to Nate Johnson.
"I had a lot of trust in Amani," Nate Johnson said. "He was one of the key vocal guys in the huddle that was hey, he was telling us to follow his energy. He was bringing all the energy. He was the one rebounding and letting us know 'we good, we good, we good.' And I mean don't get it wrong on that possession, I was supposed to crash the glass. I hope I don't get yelled at for that, but I mean I saw him get the rebound. I saw him down there, he boxed out and he's a good passer so I knew he made a good decision to get a good pass down the court."
Ipsaro fired a desperation shot from beyond half court on the final possession and missed.
Akron (28-6) erased a 34-16 deficit with 9:14 remaining in the first half to top Miami (25-9) for the second time this season.
"Wow, what a game," Akron coach John Groce said. "I thought the thing that will stand out to me, it certainly did during the game, was just our ability to stay poised. There was a lot not going right for us. Give Miami a lot of credit for that. I thought they played really well in the first half. I thought their shot making was elite in the first half and here we are sitting with seven turnovers at halftime. Second chance points, I believe, and turnover points were 22-3 [combined] Miami at the half.
"We thought that was a big key going in, but these guys never flinched. We have a saying in our program that we 'Run to hard. We don't run away from it.' And we kept reminding each other of that. I thought we did a good job of staying poised and just kept swinging. Ironically, we're wearing these Nike shirts that say 'Nothing Easy' out there on the court, and it certainly wasn't."
The Zips outscored the RedHawks 20-7 during the final 10:03 with Shammah Scott and Nate Johnson both scoring seven points and Tavari Johnson scoring six points. Akron compiled a 12-4 run during the final 6:03.
"It's just great to do it with my brothers," Scott said. "I love all of these guys. I love the coaching staff. It's just a surreal feeling and I wouldn't have it any other way. I feel like this game really described how the season went. We started off struggling a little bit. We came back from adversity and stuck together and never gave up, so I'm very proud of this win for sure."
Tavari Johnson said the win was "almost like a movie" and "one that we're going to remember forever."
"I couldn't have done it with a great better group of guys, so it's really a blessing to be surrounded with people like this," he added.
Akron beat Miami 102-75 at Rhodes Arena on Jan. 25 after leading 52-28 at halftime. The Zips made 10 of their first 15 3-point shots against the RedHawks in the regular season, and finished 15-of-34 from deep. Miami made 8-of-25 3s.
Miami flipped that Saturday, making 10-of-18 3s in the first half and finishing 15-of-30 from beyond the 3-point arc. Akron was the opposite, making 2-of-11 shots from 3-point range in the first half and finishing 9-of-27 from deep.
Suder started 9-of-10 from the field Saturday, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range, but missed his final four shots (two of which were 3s.) He led Miami with 24 points, three assists and two rebounds.
"He was hitting a lot of tough shots," Nate Johnson said of Suder. "We played good defense, tried to contest it, but at the end of the day it was, I mean when he's going to miss? He was making so many 3s and so many pullups. He was playing great today."
Ipsaro contributed 12 points and six assists, redshirt sophomore Kam Craft scored 11 points and junior Antwone Woolfolk added eight points.
"Give Miami credit," Groce said. "I thought they played terrific. They had a great year. They really did in our league. They are a really good basketball team. They were challenging to play against today, but credit our guys for making plays. ... It was hard to guard Peter Suder tonight. He was unbelievable"
Groce spoke with media members from a podium with Scott (nine points, three assists) to his right and Tavari Johnson (15 points) and Nate Johnson to his left. He also lauded the play of Lyles (six points, 14 rebounds, three assists).
"We could have just as easily brought him up here," Groce said. "He had 14 rebounds and that last traffic rebound was maybe the best rebound he's had in his career and the most meaningful that led to the outlet pass when Nate Dogg made the shot."
Akron senior Isaiah Gray and junior Bowen Hardman scored eight points apiece, and senior James Okonkwo added five points. Gray and Okonkwo each had five rebounds and two steals.
The Zips also established a new single-season record for wins in program history, won their sixth MAC Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time since becoming a Division I team in 1980.
"I got to give credit to the coaching staff," Scott said. "They knew we didn't have the same group as we had last year. I mean we had great players, different positions, different roles, so we knew we had to adjust. Coach Groce and the rest of the coaching staff, they found a system that they felt like would work for us, so we just executed as best we could."
Said Tavari Johnson: "It feels great to know that we've done a few things that no other team has done here and there has been a lot of great teams and a lot of great players. It's just our togetherness and not caring who shoots. Our camaraderie with each other, love hanging out with each other outside of basketball, spending time with each other all the time; all of that falls into the game."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nate Johnson leads Akron to MAC Tournament championship win over Miami
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