Men's Basketball Set To Open MAC Play At Ohio

January 05 | Men's Basketball

GAME 13

Akron (9-3, 0-0 MAC) at
Ohio (9-4, 0-0 MAC)

Saturday, January 6
7 p.m. EST
Convocation Center (13,080)
Athens, Ohio

Television: None

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 51-23 (.689) mark in that time. He is 159-93 (.631) in his ninth season as a collegiate head coach. He is 5-3 all-time versus Ohio.

Ohio Coach Tim O'Shea (Boston College '84):
Is in his sixth season on the sideline for the Bobcats and as a collegiate head coach, owning a 90-72 (.556) mark in that time. He is 5-6 all-time versus Akron.

The Series: Saturday marks the 53rd meeting between the two programs on the hardwood. Ohio leads the all-time series, 28-24. The teams split last season's two matchups, with each winning on their home floor. The Bobcats took a 66-63 decision in Athens (Jan. 24, 2006), while the Zips won 76-61 in Akron (Feb. 25, 2006). UA has won three of the last four overall meetings, with their last victory in Athens being a 69-49 decision on Feb. 16, 2005.

Up Next: UA plays host to Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 11.

Zips Get League Play Underway At Ohio...
The University of Akron men's basketball team (9-3) begins the Mid-American Conference portion of its schedule when it travels to Ohio (9-4) on Saturday for a 7 p.m. EST game at Convocation Center.

Winners of consecutive games and three of its last four contests, Akron comes off a 70-61 win at Youngstown State on Tuesday.

Ohio has also been the winner in three of its last four outings, but looks to rebound from a 70-60 loss at Marshall on Wednesday.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• Two of the top shooting teams in the MAC, the Zips and Bobcats lead the league with a 79.2 points-per-game average. UA is first in the conference in field-goal percentage (49.5 percent) and 3-point field-goal percentage (41.2 percent), while Ohio is second in both of those categories (48.8 percent FG/40.6 3FG).
• Akron has shot below 50 percent in a game just four times through 12 contests. The Zips hit 44.6 percent (29-of-65) of its field goals on Tuesday at Youngstown State.
• The Zips have converted 42 percent or better from 3-point range in seven of the last nine games, and have made 10 or more 3-pointers in a contest six times this season (season-high 14 versus Tiffin/Nov. 19).
• Akron is averaging a MAC-best 8.8 makes-a-game from behind the arc, after converting 7-of-18 from long range at Youngstown State.
• In the preseason media poll, Akron and Ohio were picked to finish 1-2, respectively, in the Mid-American Conference's East Division
• The Zips are 4-1 in road games (best in the MAC) and 5-2 (1-1 neutral) in games played away from Rhodes Arena this season.
• Ohio guard Bubba Walther spent the first season and a half of his collegiate eligibility wearing a Zips uniform, transferring to Ohio in December 2005.
• First-year Akron assistant coach Jeff Boals was a four-year basketball letterwinner at Ohio (1992-95). Boals was a captain on the Bobcats 1994 squad that won the MAC tournament and regular-season championship as well as the Preseason National Invitation Tournament. He was an assistant coach at the school during the 1995-96 season.
• UA has just one player averaging double-figure points, with Romeo Travis leading the charge at 14.2 ppg. Four other players are averaging 9.0 ppg or better (Wood-9.8, Joyce-9.5, Dials-9.4, Middleton-9.0).
• Travis, a candidate for MAC player of the year, ranks 24th on Akron's career scoring chart with 1,169 points (101 games), and is the school's all-time blocked shots leader (119 in his career/team-high 19 this season).
• Quade Milum and Nate Linhart have played a pivotal role in Akron's success of late. Each recorded career-high points at Youngstown State (Milum-17/Linhart-15), and have combined to average 28.0 points as starters in the last two games. Linhart leads the team in steals, with 17 (1.4 spg), while Milum is second on the club in rebounding (4.8 rpg).

On The Line Versus Ohio...
• An Akron victory would make it 10-3 overall, matching its record through 13 games last season.
• An Akron victory would make it winners of three straight, four of the last five, and 10 of the last 12 contests.
• An Akron victory would mark the earliest it has recorded its 10th victory since the 1999-2000 team earned win No. 10 on Jan. 5. The Zips got their 10th decision last season on Jan. 14.
• An Akron victory would make it 5-1 on the road and 6-2 (1-1 neutral) in games away from Rhodes Arena this season.
• An Akron victory would be its second in three trips to Convocation Center (69-49 decision on Feb. 16, 2005).

News, Notes, Trends...
• UA had 21 assists on 29 made field goals on Tuesday at Youngstown State. The Zips turned the ball over a season-low nine times against the Penguins.
• Akron was outrebounded 46-33 by Youngstown State on Tuesday, the largest margin it has given up on the glass this season. The Zips have been outboarded five times this year.
• At 9-3, Akron has matched its record through 12 games last season.
• The Zips are 9-1 this season when leading at the half, the lone loss came at UIC (Dec. 16). UA has trailed at the intermission twice, losing both times (versus UALR/Nov. 13 and against Nevada/Dec. 22).
• Through 12 games seven different Akron players have led the team in scoring.
• UA has compiled 46 blocked shots (3.8 bpg) this season (Leaders: Romeo Travis-19, Quade Milum-11), putting it on pace to have 118 for the season. The program's single-season record is 111 (2004-05), and the Zips 102 rejections last year is second on that chart.
• UA jumped one spot to No. 13 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• 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's loss to Nevada on Dec. 22 snapped the nation's fourth-longest home win streak, as the Zips had won 21-straight games at Rhodes Arena.
• Akron is 31-2 at home under Dambrot, and has won 13 of its last 14 non-conference home games.
• 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).
• Dambrot signed a new five-year contract on Dec. 22, extending his relationship with the university through June 30, 2011.
• 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 1,169 points (101 games), and is 17 points shy of the 23rd spot on the list - occupied by Anthony Buford (1,185/1987-90/80 games).
• Travis has scored in double figures in nine games this season (12 at Youngstown State). His season-high of 24 points came at UIC (Dec. 16) (four off his career best), and he has hit that double-digit mark 63 times in 101 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 119 rejections (101 games), and leads the team with 19 (1.7 bpg) this season (one at Youngstown State).
• Dru Joyce's 419 career assists (102 games) is second most in school history, and is 58 away from the top spot held by Eric McLaughlin (476/1985-89/115 games). Joyce's 4.9 apg this season leads the team, and he maintains a 2.8 assist-turnover ratio (59 assists compared to 21 turnovers). He had a season-high-tying 10 dishes (one off career best) to go with one turnover at Youngstown State.
• Nick Dials and Nate Linhart each have just one miss from the line this season (Dials: 19-of-20, Linhart: 7-of-8). Dials last took a charity shot against Loyola Marymount (Dec. 29), going 4-for-4, while Linhart's last trip to the stripe was against Winston-Salem State (Dec. 9) (1-of-2).
• Dials has started in all 12 games, scoring in double figures five times. He has not hit double-figure points in the last four games (six at Youngstown State after doing so in three straight prior to that. His 3.5 apg is second on the squad, as is his 16 steals (1.3 spg).
• Cedrick Middleton (9.0 ppg) is tied for second on the team in steals, with 16 (1.3 spg), and has had at least one theft in six-straight games. Middleton scored a career-high 19 points against Winston-Salem State (Dec. 9).
• 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 three-straight games, and has not had double-digit rebounds in four consecutive contests.