MAC Tournament Diary: Day One

March 08 | Men's Basketball

GoZips.com reporter Andy Harris will follow the Akron men's basketball team through its daily routine in Cleveland as it seeks its first ever Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship. Check back throughout the week for the latest scoop...

DAY ONE

9:30 a.m. - To start the day, the Zips make their way over to Quicken Loans Arena for their morning shootaround. The idea is simple: to get used to shooting and being on the court in a place that's not familiar to the players. The session is a short one, though, and after less than half an hour, it's time to head over to Euclid High School for practice.

10:15 a.m. - Practicing inside a high school gym might seem like an unusual thing to do, but the surroundings matter little in this case. What's more important is running through the plays and offensive sets that will be used in the game tonight. After about an hour on the court, the Zips depart from the school and return to the Renaissance Hotel, their home for the tournament. Other than the team lunch at 12:30, the players have free time from now until the team meal and scouting meeting at 3 p.m.

12:07 p.m. - All is quiet in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel. Game time is still seven hours away, and at the moment, the Zips are resting comfortably in their hotel rooms. Over at Quicken Loans Arena, the first quarterfinal game of the day is tipping off, with the eighth-seeded Eastern Michigan Eagles taking on the tournament's top seed, the Toledo Rockets. For now, the outcome of this game is one of the last things on the minds of the Zips; they don't have to worry about the Rockets or Eagles unless they reach the championship game.

12:36 p.m. - Normally, University of Akron fans and Kent State fans hate sharing even the same large arena with one another, but the two teams are sharing a hotel for the duration of the tournament. Kent State head coach Jim Christian strolls through the lobby, casually dressed in team sweats. KSU forward Haminn Quaintance passes through as well, just a few feet away from UA forward Chris McKnight, who's waiting for an elevator. All of the other teams are under the same roof, so for this weekend at least, Zips, Flashes, Chippewas, Broncos and Rockets can co-exist.

1:25 p.m. - Over at the "Q", Toledo is overwhelming EMU with its quickness and ball pressure. The Rockets, who have been the Zips' nemesis the past two years, (losses in last year's MAC Tournament and earlier this season at Toledo) are just too fast for the Eagles. Guard Kashif Payne knifes through the EMU defense at will, and any hopes that the top seed will fall in this game are going up in smoke.

1:33 p.m. - At the 8:22 mark of the second half, even the Eastern Michigan band is turning on the team. After another EMU turnover, a band member clad in green face paint bellows out, "Is this the first time you've ever played basketball?" You have to love school spirit.

1:45 p.m. - Just over four minutes remain in the game, and Toledo is in a four-corners offense, deliberately passing the ball around the perimeter and running the clock. The margin has been tantalizingly close for a few minutes, getting to seven points at its smallest, but EMU's inability to hang on to the ball and avoid turnovers has proved to be its undoing.

1:57 p.m. - Like a basketball assembly line; one game ends, the next two teams take the floor. With UT barely done celebrating a 62-54 win, the Ohio Bobcats take the floor to begin warmups for their contest against their archrival, the Miami University RedHawks.

2:57 p.m. - In a small dining room at street level of the Renaissance Hotel, Zips players and coaches began filing in for what is scheduled to be a 3 o'clock team meal and scouting session. Truthfully, both coaches and players filter in for the next 12 minutes or so, dressed in a variety of UA athletics t-shirts, shorts and sandals.

3:08 p.m. - The team meal is a low-key affair, with a buffet of lasagna, baked chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes and cookies available. Freshman forward Chris McKnight returns to the table with four and a half cookies, but swears that a couple are leftovers from lunch and that he probably won't eat them all anyhow. Many of the players are busy sending text messages and talking to friends on their cell phones in between bites, which makes for slow eating. Twice, Coach Keith Dambrot urges sophomore guard Jeremy Sallee to eat more quickly so he can finish and the scouting session can begin.

3:20 p.m. - The lights are dimmed and at the far end of the room, a laptop computer and digital projector show footage from the Feb. 7 game between the Zips at Chippewas at Rhodes Arena. Each player receives a detailed scouting report, breaking down the CMU roster play-by-player. Coach Dambrot stands at the front of the room, and along with assistant coach Lamont Paris, he narrates the video. The footage also includes plays from other CMU games in order to illustrate plays that the Zips might see tonight that weren't used in the first contest against Central Michigan. Preferences and habits of each Chippewa player are discussed, such as center Marko Spica, who according to Dambrot, "spins on offense every time he catches the ball, and usually goes one-on-one because he doesn't like to pass the ball."

3:31 p.m. - During one replay, Coach Dambrot turns to junior guard Cedrick Middleton, smiles and chides, "You were a gambling maniac all during that play, Cedrick." It's a moment of levity that breaks up what has otherwise been a very quiet, focused twenty-minute film session. Dambrot and Paris are the only ones to speak during the session, and even now, several hours before the game, Dambrot is focused and intense, and he looks as if he's ready to lace 'em up and play the game right here, right now.

3:45 p.m. - The meeting ends, with the players reminded that the team bus will depart at precisely 5:05. Most of them are heading back to their rooms for down time, although sophomore forward John Rybak is among those who has been keeping tabs on the action over at the Q and comments on the sizeable lead that the Miami RedHawks have built against Ohio. For others, the concerns are simpler; junior forward Jeremiah Wood wants to make sure he has a new pair of socks for the game, and twice he is reminded to pick up his knee brace, which has been left orphaned on the dining room floor since lunch time.

4:27 p.m. - Back at the Q, the fourth-seeded Miami RedHawks have made their large early lead stand up, defeating Ohio 70-51. Regardless of their overall record, MU always seems to play well at this tournament and their two regular-season games against the Zips were down-to-the-wire battles. A potential third go-around with the Red Hawks would be a major test for the Zips, but their focus is on tonight's game and tonight's game only.

5:05 p.m. - The bus departs on time, a remarkable feat when trying to coordinate the whereabouts of 17 players, four coaches and a collection of managers, trainers and support staff. Most of the players board the bus with their iPods blasting, which turns out to be a good choice because the bus sound system is playing "Smooth Jazz" 107.3-FM, and the smooth sound of Van Morrison isn't exactly the hard-charging, adrenaline-pumping music that fires players up for a big game.

5:25 p.m. - The longest four-block bus ride in Zips history ends some 20 minutes after it began. A winding trek through downtown Cleveland leads to the service entrance of a parking garage next to the arena. From there, a trip down a narrow, not-for-claustrophobics tunnel brings the team into the bowels of the Q. A quick pass through security is next, then on to the locker room.

5:40 p.m. - The players and coaches begin finding their way out of the locker room and out to courtside. Coach Dambrot sits calmly on the bench, doing an interview with Zips radio broadcaster Steve French that will be aired later on tonight. The arena is still mostly empty, the calm and quiet before the storm.

6:00 p.m. - A quick shootaround takes place, then post players and guards break into two separate groups and start a series of drills. There are few smiles; instead, intense, determined expressions are the norm. Each drill and movement is done purposefully and with precision. These are the same drills the players have done before every game this year, but tonight they take on an extra level of importance.

6:15 p.m. - The Zips depart the court and return to the locker room. Fans have started making their way into the arena, and some loyal Zips fans and AK-Rowdies cheer loudly for their team as they exit the floor.

6:30 p.m. - Back out to the arena floor for layup lines and final warmups. The crowd is overwhelmingly pro-Zips, and the team already seems to be feeding off the energy.

6:45 p.m. - For the final time prior to the game, the Zips go back to the locker room, led off the court by their senior captain, Dru Joyce.

6:56 p.m. - In the tunnel just off the floor, the team gathers for a huddle. There's dancing, singing, rapping and plenty of energy. Romeo Travis enters the fray, leaping on top of several teammates and shouting enthusiastically. Joyce requests two basketballs for the team's signature court entrance. He tosses a ball high in the air and bounces out onto the court, ready to lead his team into battle.

7:05 p.m. - The wait finally ends. The opening tip goes in the air, and the game is on.

7:18 p.m. - At the 14:48 mark, Coach Dambrot is already unhappy, talking to the officials about a charging call against Travis that led Dambrot to angrily stomp the floor and smack his hands together. The Zips have built a solid lead, though, which soothes the tensions slightly.

7:33 p.m. - The game takes a decidedly ugly turn for the Zips, with Nick Dials crumpling to the floor in a heap following a scramble for a loose ball. Dials struggles to his feet and limps up the court, then immediately heads to the locker room for treatment. Before he can return to the court, though…..

7:52 p.m. - In another loose ball battle, Nate Linhart takes a hard fall. Blood immediately starts to run down his face, and within minutes, his left eye is swelling heavily. The game stops for several minutes, but Linhart is able to get to his feet and is helped to the bench. At about the same time, Dials returns to the court in a Willis Reed-type moment, with the UA crowd roaring its approval. Later, when asked how the injury happened, Linhart literally says, "I don't know what hit me, I just knew it hurt."

7:58 p.m. - The first half ends with a bang. Quade Milum picks up a loose ball near midcourt, races toward the basket and throws down a thunderous two-hand slam right before the buzzer. The dunk gives the Zips a 39-28 lead and plenty of momentum heading into the half.

8:15 p.m. - Second half action kicks off with the Zips still in high gear. In the first five minutes of the half, the lead is doubled and the Chippewas are reeling. The punctuation mark comes at the 15:40 mark when….

8:27 p.m. - Nick Dials leaps high in the air to snare a defensive rebound, then races to the other end and snares an offensive rebound over the Chippewas' 6'10 center, Marko Spica. After a timeout, Dials strikes with a 3-pointer from the corner, showing no ill effects at all from his ankle injury.

8:45 p.m. - Any hopes of a CMU comeback are dashed when Joyce nails a three-pointer from the left wing to push the lead to 23 points and Romeo Travis viciously swats a Chippewa shot at the other end.

9:04 p.m. - Final score: Zips 82, Chippewas 53. A Nick Goddard three from the corner caps the effort for the Zips and brings the UA crowd to its feet.

9:13 p.m. - At the postgame press conference, Travis praises the defensive game plan laid out by his head coach. Coach Dambrot turns with a wry smile on his face and asks, "Do you want money or something?" Travis quickly replies, "Yeah, but after the season." The day is over for the Zips, who will retreat to the hotel and try to heal from the injuries to Dials and Linhart. Their opponent won't be determined until nearly midnight, when the Kent State-Western Michigan game ends, but tonight's effort leaves high hopes that regardless of the opponent, the Zips will be ready to compete.