Nikola Cvetinovic had all three of his steals in the first 5 minutes of the second half, helping to spark Akron to a 74-59 win over Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday night.
Tied at 33 at halftime, the Zips opened the second half on a 13-2 run. Cvetinovic had the last of his three steals with 15:41 left and, after a Miami timeout, scored a layup to put Akron ahead 46-35 with 15:26 to play.
Akron achieved its first 11-1 conference start and the first in the Mid-American Conference since Kent State in 2001-02.
Chauncey Gilliam paced Akron (19-7, 11-1) with 14 points and Demetrius Treadwell chipped in 13 off the bench.
The Zips shot 51 percent from the field (25 of 49) and outrebounded the RedHawks 33-23.
Brian Sullivan scored 19 points for Miami (8-16, 4-8), and Julian Mavunga, averaging 17.1 points per game coming in, was held to 11.
