Johnson's 23 lead Akron past UMass 99-92

Tavari Johnson's 23 points helped Akron defeat UMass 99-92 on Friday night.

The Associated Press
February 14, 2026 at 5:33AM

AKRON, Ohio — Tavari Johnson's 23 points helped Akron defeat UMass 99-92 on Friday night.

Johnson shot 7 for 16 (3 for 8 from 3-point range) and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Zips (20-5, 11-1 Mid-American Conference). Amani Lyles shot 5 of 9 from the field, including 2 for 4 from 3-point range, and went 7 for 8 from the line to add 19 points. Shammah Scott shot 4 of 9 from the field, including 3 for 7 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 4 from the line to finish with 14 points.

K'Jei Parker finished with 20 points for the Minutemen (15-11, 6-7). Marcus Banks and Leonardo Bettiol each finished with 18 points.

Akron took the lead for good with two seconds to go in the first half. The score was 44-43 at halftime, with Johnson racking up 17 points. Akron used a 7-0 run in the second half to build a 73-63 lead with 10:40 left.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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