Akron to face VCU in first round of NCAA tournament

AKRON, OH - The University of Akron men's basketball team, which defeated Ohio University 65-46 in Saturday's FirstEnergy Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game, received the No. 12 seed in the South Region and will face No. 5 seed VCU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Zips (26-6) and Rams (26-8) will face off on Thursday, March 21, at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich. Game times will be announced on Monday. The winner of Thursday's game will take on the winner of the No. 4 Michigan/No. 13 South Dakota State pairing on Saturday, March 23.

VCU head coach Shaka Smart was an assistant coach for the Zips from 2003-06, including two seasons under head coach Keith Dambrot. Akron is 0-6 all-time against the Rams, with Dambrot and Smart having faced off twice. VCU defeated UA 70-53 in Richmond on Feb. 20, 2010, as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters event, and the Rams caught the Zips 76-75 in overtime on Dec. 29, 2011, in Akron.

UA, appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five seasons and fourth time in program history (1986, 2009, 2011), is the MAC regular-season champion for the second-straight year. As the top seed, the Zips earned a triple bye to the league tournament's semifinal round and defeated Kent State 62-59 on Friday before downing the Bobcats in last night's title matchup.