The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Home Slate Saturday Against Hiram
November 11 | Men's Basketball
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Hiram at Akron Game Notes in PDF Format
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Hiram (0-0) at Akron (1-0)
Sat., Nov. 12, 2011 • 7 p.m. ET
Akron, Ohio
Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Television: None.
Webcast/Live Statistics:
Available at GoZips.com – webcast and live statistics free of charge.
Radio: SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship) and for free at SportsRadio1350.com. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (analyst) (6:30 p.m. ET airtime).
Akron Coach Keith Dambrot
(Akron, 1982):
Is in his eighth season at Akron, posting a 164-75 (.685) mark. Dambrot is 271-145 (.651) in 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He is 2-0 against Hiram overall, but has not faced them as head coach of the Zips.
The Series: The Zips are 40-3 against Hiram and own a 35-game winning streak in the series which dates back to the 1904-05 season. Akron won the last matchup 91-63 on Feb. 4, 1987, at Rhodes Arena.
Akron Returns Home to Face Hiram
The University of Akron men's basketball teams opens the 2011-12 home schedule against Hiram as part of the 2011 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Storylines
• Akron opens the 2011-12 home slate against Hiram following a 68-58 road victory over Mississippi State on Nov. 19.
• Junior Quincy Diggs scored a game-high 19 points making 8-of-13 shots and grabbing four rebounds.
• Junior Zeke Marshall added 10 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
• Akron's win against Mississippi State was the first for the Zips over a high major opponent since the Zips' 65-60 overtime win at Florida State during the 2008 NIT (March 18, 2008).
• The Zips are now 2-3 all-time against the Southeastern Conference, 2-0 under head coach Keith Dambrot.
• Akron's Nov. 9 season opener was the earliest the Zips have ever played a regular season basketball game.
• This year's appearance in the 2K Sports Classic is Akron's first appearance in the event.
• The Zips are 89-21 (.809) overall in home openers and have been winners of 8 of the last 9 at Rhodes Arena to open the season.
• Akron is 46-29 all-time in regular season tournaments, including a 11-8 mark under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot.
• The Zips are 40-3 all-time against Hiram and have on 35-straight games in the series.
• Tonight's game marks just the second time Akron has played a contest on Nov. 12, defeating Millikin 89-41 in last season's home opener.
A Look at the Terriers
Hiram comes to Rhodes Arena after posting a 14-12 record during the 2010-11 season. The Terriers return two starters and seven letterwinners from last season, led by sophomore guard Aaron Stefanov (9.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg).
Tonight's contest will count as an exhibition game for Hiram.
Last Time Out Against Hiram
Five Zips scored in double figures, including 20 points by Eric McLaughlin, as the Zips downed the Terriers 91-63 on Feb. 4, 1987, at Rhodes Arena.
The victory was the 35th-straight for Akron in the series.
Akron-Mississippi State Recap
The Zips, behind a career-high 19 points by Quincy Diggs, opened the 2011-12 season with a 68-58 win over Mississippi State on Nov. 9 as part of the 2K Sports Classic.
Diggs finished the game 8-of-13 from the floor with four rebounds in 33 minutes on the court. Zeke Marshall finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots before fouling out. Brian Walsh added nine points in his first action for the Zips.
For the game, Akron shot 48.4 percent from the floor (30-of-62) and 20 percent from behind the 3-point arc. Mississippi State closed the contest shooting 34.5 percent from the field (19-of-55) and 15.4 percent from long range (2-of-13).
The Zips forced 19 turnovers and converted them into 26 points while turning the ball over 15 times. Akron also held the advantage in points in the paint (44-28), fast break points (16-4) and bench scoring (21-6).
Home Cooking
Akron is 91-15 (.858) at Rhodes Arena under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot (0-0 overall, 0-0 MAC this season). The Zips have recorded nine-straight winning seasons at home overall and have won at least 13 home contests in six of the last seven years. In fact, the Zips have not posted a losing home record since 1995-96 (2-11).
What a Start
Junior forward Quincy Diggs opened the season right where he left off at the end of the 2010-11 campaign.
Diggs posted a career-high 19 points at Mississippi State (Nov. 9) to open the season and has now reached double figures in the scoring column in two-straight and three of the last four contests.
Let the Block Party Continue
Junior center Zeke Marshall continued to dominate the paint on the defensive end in the season opener, swatting five shots.
For his career, he has 42 multi-block games and has reached double figures in the block column in seven-straight contests and has four or more blocked shots in 11 career games.
Debut Performances
Four Zips saw their Akron debut against Mississippi State, combining for 21 points, seven boards and one assist off the bench.
• Sophomore Brian Walsh led the way with nine points, two boards and one assist in 17 minutes.
• Sophomore Nick Harney added six points and three boards in 16 minutes.
• Junior Chauncey Gilliam and sophomore Demetrius Treadwell added four and two points respectively.
Defensive Effort
The Zips defense led the way in Starkville on Nov. 9, holding Mississippi State to 34.5 percent shooting from the floor (19-of-55) and 15.4 percent from long range (2-of-13).
Akron also forced 19 turnovers, posted eight steals and scored 26 points off of turnovers.
Bench Power
The Akron bench proved to be one of the difference makers in the Mississippi State contest, outscoring the Bulldog bench 21-6.
Lights, Camera, Action
The Zips will appear on television five times this season, with the potential for nine additional TV games to be added to the schedule. Akron won its first TV game, a 68-58 road win over Mississippi State, on Nov. 9 on ESPNU. Last season Akron went 9-7 on TV.
A Look at the Polls
• The Zips will open play this season ranked No. 14 in the preseason CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll. Additionally, ten Akron opponents also appeared in the poll, including No. 12 Kent State, No. 13 VCU, No. 15 Detroit and No. 22 Cleveland State. Western Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee, Ohio, Ball State and Valparaiso all received votes.
• Two opponents appeared in the preseason AP-Top 25 while three teams made an appearance in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. West Virginia received votes in both polls (4/13) while Marshall (1) was listed in the AP poll and Mississippi State (11) and VCU (4) were listed in the Coaches poll.
How Hard is it to Win 20 Games?
• The Akron Zips are the only team in the Mid-American Conference to have won 20-plus games the last six seasons. How hard is it to win 20-plus games on a regular basis? In the last four seasons, only 34 of 346 teams (9.8 percent) have won 20 games each year. Over the past five years, that number drops to 24 of 346 teams (6.9 percent). At the end of the 2010-11 season, only 20 teams, including Akron, were able to reach 20 or more wins (5.8 percent) in the last six seasons.
• On the coaching side of 20-win seasons, head coach Keith Dambrot is currently tied for 14th place among active coaches with current 20-plus game winning streaks (6). Eighteen active coaches in Division I basketball have posted longer streaks of 20-win seasons than Dambrot and only three of those coaches (Mark Few, Gonzaga; Stew Morrill, Utah State; Dana Altman, Creighton) have posted longer streaks of 20-win seasons than Dambrot solely at mid-major programs.
Akron and the SEC
The Zips improved to 2-3 against the Southeastern Conference (2-0 vs. Mississippi State; 0-1 vs. Alabama; 0-2 vs. Kentucky). Akron head coach Keith Dambrot is 2-0 against the SEC, with both victories coming against the Bulldogs.
Defending the Crown
For the second time in three seasons, the Zips open up play as the defending Mid-American Conference champions. Since joining the Division I ranks, Akron posted records of 21-9 (1986-87) and 24-11 (2009-10) in the season following a conference championship.
Repeating as tournament champion in the MAC is no east feat. Since the tournament began in 1980, only two teams, Ball State (1989-90) and Kent State (2001-02), have successfully repeated as tourney champs.
A Winning Standard
Since taking over the program before the 2004-05 season, eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot has created a winning mentality in the program that has not been seen in 110-plus seasons of basketball. Of the five senior classes to win 90 or more games in their career, four of those have come under Dambrot. The current senior class of Nikola Cvetinovic, Brett McClanahan and Kyle Petersen currently sit at 71 wins and need 27 more to tie the school record for most wins in a career (97).
• Class of 2010 (2007-10) – 97 wins
• Class of 2009 (2006-09) – 96 wins
• Class of 2011 (2007-11) – 94 wins
• Class of 2008 (2005-08) – 92 wins
• Class of 1966 (1963-66) – 91 wins
Career List Watch
• Senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic is on pace to break Steve McNees' (141, 2008-11) record for career games played. Currently sitting at 108 contests, Cvetinovic needs to appear in 34 games to take over the top spot. Looking at the schedule, the Zips would have to play in four postseason contests for Cvetinovic to take over the top spot.
• Junior center Zeke Marshall, with 156 blocked shots in his career, needs just 10 swats to pass Romeo Travis (165, 2004-07) for the career mark. Marshall already owns the single-game (9), single-season (92), freshman season (59) and sophomore season (92) blocked shot records.
• After breaking the freshman season assists record (128), sophomore guard Alex Abreu is setting his sights on the career top-10. He currently has 131 assists and needs 131 dimes to pass Mike Dowdell (261, 1984-87) for tenth place. Abreu's 128 dimes were also the ninth-best of any season in program history.
Looking at the MAC Record Book
• Junior center Zeke Marshall enters the season in 14th place on the career blocked shots list for the Mid-American Conference (156). He needs 20 swats to pass Dan Roundfield (CMU, 1972-75) to move into the top-10 (175). Should he have a repeat performance of 92 blocked shots from last year, Marshall would finish the season in fifth place (243). If Marshall posts the same number blocks the next two seasons as he did the last two seasons (151), he would break Lonnie Jones' (Ball State, 1998-2002) conference record of 301 by one blocked shot.
• Compared to other coaches all-time in the MAC, head coach Keith Dambrot is in fifth place with a .627 win percentage while coaching in the MAC (183-109 overall; 163-75 Akron, 20-34 CMU), eighth in overall wins (188), 10th in conference wins (90) and 11th in league games winning percentage (.600, 90-60).
Winning Ways
• In his time at Akron, head coach Keith Dambrot has led the Zips to a 163-75 (.685) record, the most wins of any UA coach in their first seven season. He ranks third in UA history in wins (163) and winning percentage (.685).
• Through his first seven seasons, Dambrot led the Zips to a 162-75 record (.684). The program's 162 wins are tied for the top spot in the MAC and tied for 29th-best in the nation during that period.
1,000-Point Club
For the second-consecutive season, a Zips' student-athlete has the potential to join the Akron 1,000-point club. Senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic enters the season with 82 career points and needs 172 points to become the 39th player to break the 1,000-mark. If he maintained his 11.7 ppg average from the 2010-11 season, he would score his 1,000th point at Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 7.
Inside the Scoring Numbers
The Zips have been one of the better defensive squads in the league under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot. In 237 games, the Zips have held 173 opponents to 70 points or less, going 139-34 (.803). Akron has held 134 of those foes to 65 points or less, going 117-18 (.867). On the flip side, Akron is 23-41 when allowing 70-plus points (.359).
The Century Club
Senior guard Brett McClanahan enters the 2011-12 campaign having appeared in 93 career games. Barring injury, he will play in his 100th-career game, joining senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic, at Cleveland State (Dec. 10).
The Drive for 500
This season, the Zips will have the opportunity to notch win No. 500 as a Division I program. Currently sitting at 480 wins, Akron needs 20 victories to reach the 500 plateau.
Climbing the Coaching Ladder
Eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot continues to climb the coaching ranks at The University of Akron. Currently sitting at 163 wins at the helm of the Blue and Gold, Dambrot needs 16 wins to pass Tony Laterza (178, 1960-68) for second place on the career wins list. Russell Beichly (1941-59) owns the school record with 286 career victories.
Let's Go Streaking
• Akron has enjoyed six-straight 20-win seasons (23-10 in 2005-06; 26-7 in 2006-07; 24-11 in 2007-08; 23-13 in 2008-09; 24-11 in 2009-10; 23-13 in 2010-11). It is the longest streak of 20-win seasons in school history. The Zips have won at least 19 games in each of head coach Keith Dambrot's first seven seasons (19-10 in '04-05).
• UA has advanced to the postseason in four-straight and five of the last six years, participating in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and 2011, the National Invitation Tournament in 2008 and 2006, and the College Basketball Invitational in 2010.
• The Zips have appeared in the MAC tournament championship game five-straight times, with those being the only five appearances in their 19 years in the league.
• Akron has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 344-consecutive games, 238-straight under head coach Keith Dambrot. The last time the Zips missed from long range was Dec. 27, 2000, against Purdue at Rhodes Arena (0-for-10). The UA opponents' streak of 3-point buckets ended at 25-straight games last season against Western Michigan on Feb. 9, 2011 (0-for-12). Two games later, the Zips held Bowling Green (Feb. 15, 2011) scoreless from long range (0-for-8) and the streak now stands at 11 games. Akron has shut out opponents from behind the arc six times under coach Dambrot.
This Day in Akron Basketball
• 2010: The Zips opened the 2010-11 campaign with an 89-41 win over Millikin at Rhodes Arena. Junior center Zeke Marshall led the way with 17 points, four boards and four blocked shots as the Zips led 48-9 at the intermission.
