Men's Basketball Faces VCU In ESPNU BracketBusters

February 22 | Men's Basketball

GAME 27

VCU (20-6) at Akron (19-7 MAC)

O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters
Saturday, February 23
11 a.m. EST
Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio

Television: ESPN2 – Bob Wischusen (play by play) and Bob Wenzel (color).

Webcast/Audio Stream: Available at GoZips.com through ZipsZone subscription package.

Radio: Akron-ISP Sports Network – SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron, WERE (1490 AM) in Cleveland and through the ZipsZone on GoZips.com. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (color) (10:30 a.m. EST airtime).

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot (Akron '82):
Is in his fourth season with the Zips, maintaining an 87-34 (.719) mark in that time. He is 195-104 (.652) in his tenth season as a collegiate head coach. This is Dambrot's first time meeting VCU.

VCU Coach Anthony Grant (Dayton '87 ):
Is in his second season on the sideline for the Rams, and as a collegiate head coach, owning a 48-13 (.787) record in that span. This is Grant's first time facing Akron.

The Series: Saturday will serve as the third all-time meeting between the two schools on the hardwood, and first since the 1970-71 season (a 74-70 loss in Akron at UA's old venue Memorial Hall). The Rams lead the series, 2-0 (other meeting was an 87-85 UA loss in Richmond, Va.).

Up Next: Akron is idle until March 1, when it plays host to Buffalo in a 7 p.m. EST contest at Rhodes Arena. The Zips follow up that game with their last road trip of the regular season on March 4 at Ohio. The game with the Bobcats will be televised on ESPN Full Court.

Akron Faces VCU In ESPNU BracketBusters Match-Up...
The University of Akron men's basketball team (19-7, 9-4 Mid-American Conference) opens a two-game homestand on Saturday and steps out of league play to meet up with VCU (20-6, 13-3 Colonial Athletic Association) as part of O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters. The game, which will be televised nationally on ESPN2, tips off at 11 a.m. EST at Rhodes Arena.

The Zips, who sit in second place in the MAC's East Division, enter the contest having won back-to-back road games. UA's latest victory was a 56-52 nailbitter at Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday. The team is 12-1 at home this season, with the loss coming in its last home date – 88-78 to Northern Illinois on Feb. 12, which snapped the nation's fifth-longest home win streak of 22 games.

VCU, which sits atop the CAA standings, comes off a 66-62 win at Northeastern on Wednesday and has won five of its last six contests. The Rams are 7-3 in away games this season and have won three-straight on the road.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• The Zips have been victorious in 43 of their last 45 games at Rhodes Arena. The program is 52-3 at home under fourth-year coach Keith Dambrot (88-78 loss to Northern Illinois, Feb. 12, 2008; 73-71 loss to top-25 ranked Nevada, Dec. 22, 2006; 57-54 loss to Kent State, Feb. 9, 2005).
• Akron is looking to achieve its third-straight 20-win season, after going 26-7 in 2006-07 and 23-10 in 2005-06. It would be the first time the program has done so since the 1986-87 (21-9), '87-88 (21-7) and '88-89 (21-8) teams did so under coach Bob Huggins. Huggins-coached teams actually did so in four-straight seasons, posting a 22-8 record in 1985-86 as well.
• Akron leads the MAC in five statistical categories – scoring (72.2 ppg), scoring margin (+8.4), 3-point field goal percentage (38.9 percent/222-of-571/45th nationally), 3-pointers made per game (8.5 mpg/28th nationally) and turnover margin (+3.7).
• Akron anticipates the return of Jeremiah Wood to its line-up on Saturday. A favorite for MAC Player of the Year, Wood missed the last four games following surgery on Feb. 9 to repair a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. He leads the Zips in scoring (13.4 ppg/12th in MAC) and rebounding (7.8/third in MAC), and is second in assists (2.4 apg). He has 1,009 career points and his 709 career rebounds rank 10th on the school's career list.
• Nick Dials, also a MAC Player-of-the-Year candidate, leads the team and ranks fourth in the league in assists (4.2 apg). UA's second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg/17th in MAC), he also averages a team-high 31 minutes as the starting point guard, and is the squad's most prolific free-throw shooter (86.8 percent/fourth in MAC/32nd nationally) and second-best 3-point shooter (39.5 percent/eighth in MAC). Dials's 288 career assists rank him seventh on UA's career list, and he has 997 points in his career as a Zip.
• Over the last five games, All-MAC candidate Nate Linhart is the Zips' leading scorer (13.8 ppg) and rebounder (5.4 rpg). During that span he has also averaged a team-high 35 minutes and accumulated a team-best 10 steals and 10 assists (second most during that span). The team's fourth-leading scorer (8.8 ppg) and second-best rebounder (4.6 rpg) overall this season, Linhart has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games. He had five points and three rebounds in 39 minutes at Miami on Tuesday.

Head Coach Keith Dambrot...
• In his fourth season at the helm of the Akron program, head coach Keith Dambrot has led the Zips to an 87-34 (.719) record. That win total is the second most in the MAC during that span (Kent State 88-38).
• Dambrot's .719 winning percentage at UA is second-best in the history of the program. Tony Laterza leads that category at .751, after posting a 178-59 record from 1960-68.
• In his 10th season as a collegiate head coach, Dambrot has compiled a 195-104 (.652) record. That winning percentage ranks as second best among the MAC's active coaches, while the total number of wins is fourth most in that group. Kent State's Jim Christian leads the winning percentage list at .702 (132-56) in his sixth season (all at KSU). Miami's Charlie Coles leads the wins list at 298 in his 18th season.
• Dambrot's high level of success led to the University giving him a new seven-year contract in April 2007 – keeping him with the program through the 2014 season.

On The Line Versus VCU...
• An Akron victory would be its third straight and fourth in five games.
• An Akron victory would make this its third-straight 20-win season.
• An Akron victory would make it 13-1 at home this season and winners in 44 of its last 46 games at Rhodes Arena.
• An Akron victory would be its first in the all-time series with VCU (the Rams enter the game with a 2-0 series lead).

Miami Postgame Notes...
• A put-back dunk by Quade Milum and a pair of game-clinching free throws by Cedrick Middleton gave Akron a 56-52 win over Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday at Millett Hall.
• It was the first victory by Akron (19-7, 9-4) in Oxford since Jan. 24, 2001, and evened the Zips' road record to 5-5.
• The dunk by Milum, who finished with six points, came with 36 seconds remaining, and Middleton converted the free throws with one second on the clock to ice the victory.
• Middleton led Akron with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, and became the 35th player in school history to surpass 1,000 points.
• Miami led 47-45 with 6:22 to play, but a 3-pointer and a jumper by Chris McKnight put the Zips back ahead 50-47 with 4:38 remaining.
• McKnight contributed 10 points and six rebounds for the Zips, while Nick Dials had eight points and two of the team's season-low five assists.
• The Zips shot 46.5 percent (20-of-43) from the field for the game, including making 4-of-6 attempts from behind the 3-point line during the second half. UA was 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc for the night.
• Akron had a season-low-tying seven turnovers.
• Tim Pollitz led Miami with 18 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while Kenny Hayes added 13 points for the RedHawks, who shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) from the field and 60 percent (6-of-10) from 3-point range for the game.
• The score was tied at 27 at halftime. Akron had its biggest lead of the opening period 25-21 after Middleton hit a 3-pointer with 5:13 to go, but was held without a field goal for the remainder of the half and Miami was able to catch up.

News, Notes, Trends...
• UA is listed No. 14 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25.
• The Zips received votes three times this season in the Associated Press poll. Earning two tallies in the preseason edition, and five votes in week 1 and two votes in week 11.
• The Zips' combined margin of victory in their 13 home dates (12-1) this season is +16.5.
• UA has been outshot in three-straight and four of its last five games, but posted a 3-2 mark during that stretch.
• Seven different Akron players have led the team in scoring this season. Additionally, five players have scored 20 points or more in a game, with two of those (Dials and Wood) having done so on three occasions each.
• The Zips are 7-6 away from Rhodes Arena this season (5-5 in true road games, 2-1 in neutral court contests). UA has won three-straight road games.
• UA's MAC-leading 8.6 3-pointers made per game ranks as the 28th-highest nationally. The Zips have made eight or more treys 19 times this season, doing so in 15 of the last 19 games. The team converted 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) at Miami on Tuesday.
• Akron nailing a season-high 13 3-pointers (season-high 31 attempts) versus North Carolina A&T (Dec. 19), and has made 12 on four other occasions.
• UA averages 9.9 3-pointers made per game and 42.6 percent (129-of-303) from behind the arc in home contests, and makes 7.2 per game and shoots 34.8 percent (93-of-267) from long range on the road.
• UA has made at least one 3-pointer in 226-straight games, dating back to a Dec. 27, 2000 loss (98-67) to Purdue at Rhodes Arena.
• The Zips rank second in the league in assist-turnover ratio (1.0 a-to/13.4 apg, 13.0 tpg) and fourth in assists (13.4 apg).
• UA has tallied a season-low assists in each of its last two games, having had six dishes at Bowling Green on Feb. 16 and then five at Miami on Tuesday.
• UA has had more assists than turnovers 12 times this season, and is 11-1 in those contests after losing under that scenario to Northern Illinois (Feb. 12). Over the last two games, the Zips have combined to have 11 assists (five at Miami) and 17 turnovers (seven at Miami).
• The Zips are averaging 71.5 percent from the line (fourth best in the MAC), and went 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) at Miami on Tuesday.

Player Notables...
• Reserve point guard Steve McNees (redshirt-freshman) is averaging 6.4 points, 2.0 assists and 21 minutes. His 37.5 percent from 3-point range is the third-best on the squad and the 11th highest in the league.
• Nate Linhart leads the squad and ranks seventh in the MAC in 3-point field goal percentage (39.6 percent). He ranks 11th in the MAC in steals (team-high 39/1.5 spg).
• Last season's MAC Sixth Man of the Year, Cedrick Middleton, has been a starter in 22 (four-straight) of 26 games played this season. He ranks third on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg/30th in MAC) and is second in steals (35/1.3 spg/15th in MAC).

Career Chart Watch...
• Cedrick Middleton joined UA's 1000-point scorer's club at Miami on Tuesday (18 points), and moved into the No. 33 spot on the school's chart with 1,015 points (121 career games) (235 points this season). Middleton's 117 steals (35 this season) rank him No. 10 on UA's all-time career list. Mike Dowdell is No. 9, with 121 thefts (1984-87/80 games). Middleton's 121 games played is the third most in program history.
• Jeremiah Wood's 1,009 career points (294 this season) (92 career games) rank him 35th on UA's career chart. His 709 rebounds (172 this season) rank him No. 10 on UA's all-time career list. Romeo Travis sits in the No. 9 spot, with 783 (2004-07/122 games).
• Nick Dials's 288 career assists (110 this season) in 92 career games played ranks No. 7 on UA's career chart. Joe Jakubick is No. 6, with 300 (1980-84/108 games). Dials has 997 points at UA, but 1,082 in his collegiate career.
• Quade Milum's 64 career rejections (team-high 20 this season) (113 career games) is No. 7 in program history. David Mason is No. 6, with 76 (1979-80 '80-81/49 games).