Men's Basketball Comes Home To Face Miami

January 10 | Men's Basketball

GAME 14

Miami (Ohio) (5-8, 1-0 MAC) at
Akron (9-4, 0-1 MAC)

Thursday, January 11
7 p.m. EST
Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio

Television: Time Warner Cable Channel 23 - Akron/Canton and Youngstown markets. (no satellite coordinates).

Webcast: GoZips.com - live outside the Akron area (not available in Summit County). Access is available through the Zips Zone.

Radio: Akron-ISP Sports Network - WARF (1350 AM) in Akron, WERE (1300 AM) in Cleveland and on the Internet at GoZips.com. Steve French (play-by-play) and Scott Taylor (color). (6:30 p.m. EST airtime).

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot (Akron '82):
Is in his third season with the Zips, owning a 51-24 (.680) mark in that time. He is 159-94 (.628) in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach. He is 2-6 all-time versus Miami.

Miami Coach Charlie Coles (Miami '65):
Is in his 11th season on the sideline for the RedHawks, owning a 180-134 (.573) mark in that time. He is 272-218 (.555) in 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach. Coles is 12-9 all-time versus Akron.

The Series: Thursday marks the 34th meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. Miami leads the all-time series, 20-13. UA is 7-6 in games played in Rhodes Arena, and has won three-straight at home in the series. The teams split last season's pair of contests, each winning on their home floor. The Zips took the matchup in Akron 52-45 (Jan. 26, 2006), and the RedHawks won in Oxford 63-60 (Feb. 22, 2006).

Up Next: Akron continues MAC play at Bowling Green on Sunday. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Anderson Arena.

Zips Return Home To Face Miami...
The University of Akron men's basketball team (9-4, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) plays host to Miami (Ohio) (5-8, 1-0 MAC) in its league home opener on Thursday. The game, which will be televised locally on Time Warner Cable Channel 23, is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. EST at Rhodes Arena.

Akron has won two of its last three games, but looks to rebound from a 77-72 loss at Ohio last Saturday in the conference opener.

Miami has lost two of its last three contests, and looks to build off of a 65-63 home court victory over league foe Kent State on Sunday.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• Akron is 4-1 at home this season, with the lone loss coming to top-25 ranked Nevada, 73-71, on Dec. 22. That loss snapped a stretch of 21-straight victories at home - what was the nation's fourth-longest home win streak.
• The Zips are 31-2 at home under third-year coach Keith Dambrot.
• Under Dambrot, UA is great at rebounding from a loss, as the Zips have dropped consecutive games just twice under the third-year mentor (yet to do so in 2006-07 and once in each of the last two seasons).
• Akron's four losses this season have come by a combined 15 points.
• One of the top shooting teams in the MAC this season, Akron is averaging 49.4 percent (382-of-774) from the floor and 40.6 percent (113-of-278) from behind the arc.
• UA has shot 50 percent or better from the field in eight of 13 contests this season, with its worst performance being a 42.4 percent showing versus Nevada (Dec. 22). The Zips have shot below 50 percent in their last two games, hitting 47.4 percent (27-of-57) at Ohio.
• The Zips have converted 42 percent or better from 3-point range in seven of the last 10 games, and have made 10 or more 3-pointers in a contest six times this season (season-high 14 versus Tiffin/Nov. 19). UA went 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from long range at Ohio, and is averaging 8.7 makes per game from behind the arc.
• UA has just one player averaging double-figure points, with MAC Player-of-the Year candidate Romeo Travis leading the charge at 14.1 ppg. Four other Zips are averaging 9.2 ppg or better ( Cedrick Middleton-9.8, Nick Dials-9.5, Jeremiah Wood-9.3, Dru Joyce-9.2).
• Through 13 games seven different Akron players have led the team in scoring, with all seven of those averaging 20 minutes or more per game.
• Travis ranks 24th on Akron's career scoring chart with 1,182 points (102 career games), and is four points shy of the 23rd spot on that list. He is also the program's all-time blocked shots leader, with 124.
• Joyce ranks second on UA's career assists chart with 426 (103 games), and has averaged 8.5 assists over the last two games (seven at Ohio, season-high-tying 10 at Youngstown State/Jan. 2). He has 66 dishes (team-high 5.5 apg) and 23 turnovers, good for a 2.9 assist-turnover ratio.

On The Line Versus Miami...
• An Akron victory would be its second straight at home, and would improve the Zips' record at Rhodes Arena this season to 5-1.
• An Akron victory would make it winners of 22 of its last 23 home games.
• An Akron victory would be its fourth-consecutive defeat of Miami at Rhodes Arena.
• An Akron victory would make it winners of three of its last four games.

News, Notes, Trends...
• Akron coach Keith Dambrot signed a new five-year contract on Dec. 22, extending his relationship with the university through June 30, 2011.
• Akron recently announced time changes to three of its games due to television. The Zips game against Western Michigan on Jan. 27 will now tip at 4 p.m. EST for ESPN2, while the Feb. 3 contest versus Ball State was moved to 4 p.m. for an FSN Ohio telecast. Additionally, UA's regular-season finale at Kent State has been moved to 7:30 p.m. for FSN Ohio. Coupled with a four-game local TV package, seven of the Zips 17 remaining regular-season games will be televised.
• The Zips dropped five spots to No. 18 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• Akron is 4-2 in road games (best in the MAC) and 5-3 (1-1 neutral) in games played away from Rhodes Arena this season.
• The Zips are 9-2 this season when leading at the half, the losses came at Ohio last Saturday and at UIC (Dec. 16). UA has trailed at the intermission twice, losing both times (versus UALR/Nov. 13 and against Nevada/Dec. 22).
• UA has compiled 52 blocked shots (4.0 bpg) this season (Leaders: Romeo Travis-24, Quade Milum-12), putting it on pace to have 124 for the season. The program's single-season record is 111 (2004-05), and the Zips' 102 rejections in 2005-06 rank second on that chart.
• In the game at UIC (Dec. 16), Akron gave up over 80 points for just the seventh time under third-year coach Keith Dambrot - the program is 0-7 in those contests.
• Akron received one vote in the Associated Press' preseason poll for the first time in program history, and maintained that position on the poll's week 2 list.
• Akron was a hot topic during the preseason. The Zips were picked to win the MAC's East Division in the league's media poll as well as by CBSSportsline.com magazine, Sporting News, Street & Smith's, Lindy's and Athlon. CBSSportsline.com magazine also ranked them 20th nationally on its list of this season's top-64 teams.
• Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis are graduates of Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, where they were teammates of NBA All-Star LeBron James. UA coach Keith Dambrot mentored the trio, and won two Ohio state championships, at the prep school before coming to UA as an assistant coach for the 2001-02 season.
• UA signed three high school seniors to national letters of intent during November's early signing period. Brett McKnight (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster HS), Steve Swiech (Pittsburgh/Elizabeth Forward HS) and Ronnie Steward (Columbus, Ohio/Eastmoor Academy) will all join the program for the 2007-08 season. Brett is the brother of current Zips freshman forward Chris McKnight.
• Akron finished the 2005-06 season with a 23-10 record, the most wins in the program's Division I era (joined in 1980-81), and notched the school's first D-I postseason victory in the form of an 80-73 overtime win at Temple (March 14) in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. UA fell 71-60 at Creighton (March 16) in the next round.

Zips Player Notables...
• Romeo Travis ranks 24th on Akron's career scoring chart with 1,182 points (102 games), and is four points shy of the 23rd spot on the list - occupied by Anthony Buford (1,185/1987-90/80 games). Derrick Tarver is in 22nd place (1,190/2003-04/55 games).
• Travis has scored in double figures in 10 games this season. He had 13 points at Ohio, with 10 of those coming in the final three minutes of the game. His season-high of 24 points came at UIC (Dec. 16) (four off his career best), and he has hit that double-digit mark 64 times in 102 career games.
• Travis became UA's all-time blocks leader during the second half of the Binghamton (Dec. 6) game, passing Bruce Weinkein (109/1998-2001/100 games) on that list. He now has 124 rejections (102 games), and leads the team with 24 (2.0 bpg) this season (five at Ohio). He had a career-best six stuffs at UIC (Dec. 16).
• Dru Joyce's 426 career assists (103 games) is second most in school history, and is 51 away from the top spot held by Eric McLaughlin (476/1985-89/115 games). Joyce's 5.1 apg this season leads the team, and he maintains a 2.9 assist-turnover ratio (66 assists compared to 23 turnovers). He has had a season-high 10 dishes twice this season (at UIC/Dec. 16, at Youngstown State/Jan. 2).
• Nick Dials and Nate Linhart each have just one miss from the line this season (Dials: 21-of-22, Linhart: 7-of-8). Dials was 2-of-2 in charity shots at Ohio, while Linhart's last trip to the stripe was against Winston-Salem State (Dec. 9) (1-of-2).
• Dials has started in all 13 games, scoring in double figures six times. He hit double-figure points for the first time in five games at Ohio, scoring 10 points in 20 minutes.His 3.2 apg is second on the squad, as is his 17 steals (1.3 spg).
• Cedrick Middleton is tied for third on the team in steals, with 16 (1.2 spg), and had a streak of at least one theft in six-straight games snapped at Ohio. He scored a career-high 20 points in 30 minutes off of the bench versus the Bobcats last Saturday.
• Quade Milum has been a member of the starting lineup for the last six games, and seven times this season (also versus Tiffin/Nov. 19). His 4.8 rpg is third on the team, while his 8.1 ppg ranks sixth. He has scored in double figures five times this season, including a career-high 17 at Youngstown State (Jan. 2).
• Jeremiah Wood sat out the last season and a half following an ACL injury, but has two double-doubles this season (16 pts., 12 rebs. vs. Gardner-Webb/Nov. 14 and 14 pts., 12 rebs. at Binghamton/Dec. 6). He was two boards shy of another versus St. Francis (10 pts., 8 rebs.) (Dec. 19). Wood has not scored in double figures in four-straight games, and has not had double-digit rebounds in five consecutive contests.