The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Concludes Road Trip Saturday at Cleveland State
December 09 | Men's Basketball
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Akron at Cleveland State Game Notes in PDF Format
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Akron (3-4) at (rv/rv) Cleveland State (9-1)
Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011 • 2:00 p.m. ET
Cleveland, Ohio
The Wolstein Center (8,500)
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) (1:30 p.m. ET airtime).
Akron Coach Keith Dambrot
(Akron, 1982):
Is in his eighth season at Akron, posting a 165-79 (.676) mark. Dambrot is 273-149 (.647) in 13 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He is 2-1 all-time against Cleveland State, with all three meetings coming at Akron.
The Series: Akron leads the all-time series 33-31, including an 11-19 record in Cleveland against the Vikings. The Zips dropped a 64-51 decision last season to CSU at Rhodes Arena (Nov. 24). The last time UA and CSU faced off at the Wolstein Center was on Jan. 16, 2006, a 62-50 win for the Zips. Akron has won two-straight on the road in the series.
News, Notes and Storylines
• The Zips conclude their three-game road trip with today's visit to The Wolstein Center in Cleveland.
• Akron is 15-5 when playing in Cleveland under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, including a 1-0 record at The Wolstein Center.
• The Zips are 35-15 (.700) in the month of December under Dambrot, including a 13-13 mark on the road.
• Akron has five players averaging 8.2 or more points per game, including Nick Harney (10.6), Quincy Diggs (10.3), Nikola Cvetinovic (8.7), Zeke Marshall (8.3) and Alex Abreu (8.2).
• Senior guard Brett McClanahan is making his 100th-career appearance today as a member of the Zips.
• The Zips are 121-86 (.585) against the Horizon League and are 1-1 so far this season.
• Today's contest will be the sixth game away from Rhodes Arena in the first eight contests for the Zips. Akron has not played six of its first eight games on the road since 2006-07.
• Akron has won three of its last four games against Cleveland State in The Wolstein Center.
• The Akron-Cleveland State series (64 games) is the sixth-most played series in program history behind Kent State (132), Wooster (92), Baldwin-Wallace (91), Youngstown State (87) and Mount Union (70).
• UA recorded its 200th win as a Division I program against Cleveland State (66-57) on Dec. 8, 1994.
• The Zips' 10-game home winning streak is currently tied for the 17th-longest active streak in the nation (Boston University).
• While on the court, Zeke Marshall is blocking 10.46 percent of the shots taken by Akron opponents. That is the top rate in the MAC and the 11th-best mark in the nation (games through Dec. 8).
• Sophomore guard Alex Abreu is recording a steal 6.92 percent of the time while on the court, which is the top mark in the MAC and ranks ninth in the nation (games through Dec. 8).
A Look at the Vikings
Cleveland State enters today's game with a 9-1 record and have won four-straight games, all coming on the road. The Vikings defeated Robert Morris 62-58 on Dec. 8 and will play at The Wolstein Center for the first time since Nov. 18.
D'Aundray Brown and Trevon Harmon lead CSU in the scoring column, averaging 12.7 and 10.9 points/game respectively. Aaron Pogue is the squad's top rebounder, averaging 5.2 boards/game.
Last Time Out Against Cleveland State
Akron dropped a 64-51 decision to Cleveland State on Nov. 24 last season at Rhodes Arena.
A 3-pointer by Steve McNees pulled Akron within 57-51 with 2:16 to play, but CSU closed out the contest on a 7-0 run, with the final margin being the Vikings largest advantage of the night.
Akron shot 36 percent (18-of-50) from the floor and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the line. CSU made 37.7 percent (23-of-61) of its shots from the field and 66.7 percent (12-of-18) of its free throws.
Akron-Middle Tennessee Recap
Akron, behind 14 points from Alex Abreu, fell 77-53 to Middle Tennessee on Dec. 4 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
For the game, the Zips shot 28.6 percent from the floor (16-of-56) and 28.6 percent from 3-point range (4-of-14). Middle Tennessee closed the game shooting 50.9 percent from the floor (28-of-55) and 22.2 percent from long range (2-of-9).
Quincy Diggs also scored in double figures, posting 10 points. Nikola Cvetinovic led the Zips with 10 rebounds in addition to nine points.
Road Warriors
• For the first time in five seasons, Akron opened a campaign with six of its first eight games on the road. The Zips, ending the first of two three-game road trips, last opened with six road games in their first eight during the 2006-07 season.
• Akron also opened the 1998-99 campaign with six road games in its first eight to open the season while the 2001-02 team opened the year with seven of its first eight away from Rhodes Arena.
Horizon League Schedule
This season, the Zips will face off against four teams from the Horizon League (Valparaiso, Detroit, Cleveland State and Youngstown State).
Overall, the Zips are 121-86 (.585) against the conference and are 1-1 so far this season (L, 62-59 at Valparaiso; W, 81-63 vs. Detroit).
Let the Block Party Continue
Junior center Zeke Marshall picked up right where he left off last season. Marshall is averaging 2.6 blocked shots per game on the early season, including at least four blocks in three-of-seven games. Against Detroit on Nov. 26, he passed Romeo Travis (165, 2004-07) for the school record in the category (169).
For his career, he has 46 multi-block games and has four or more blocked shots in 13 career games. He has blocked at least one shot in 20 of the last 21 games and in 68-of-78 career games.
Making an Early Impact
Junior Chauncey Gilliam and sophomores Brian Walsh, Nick Harney and Demetrius Treadwell have stepped into the Akron rotation early this season to make an immediate impact. The four have combined to average 28.6 points and 12.5 rebounds over the first seven games.
Gilliam has started two of the last three games and is averaging 3.7 ppg and 1.3 rpg. Harney leads the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and is averaging 4.1 rebounds.
Walsh is averaging 7.7 ppg and 2.3 rpg for the Zips to start the season while Treadwell is second on the team in rebounding (4.8 rpg) and is averaging 6.6 ppg.
Just How Young Are They?
Akron entered the season as one of the youngest teams in the nation. With 15 players having a total of 19 seasons of collegiate experience, the Zips are the 16th-youngest team in Division I basketball. In fact, nine of 15 players have one year or less in the experience column.
Bench Power
The Akron bench has provided a ton of productivity early on this season. In seven games, the Zips' bench players hold a 190-92 scoring advantage and are averaging 27.0 points/game. The Zips' reserves have outscored their opponent in each of the first seven games.
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 244 games, the Zips have held 177 opponents to 70 points or less, going 142-35 (.802). Akron has held 138 of those foes to 65 points or less, going 119-19 (.862). On the flip side, Akron is 23-44 when allowing 70-plus points (.343).
A Look at the Polls
• Two opponents appeared in the latest AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. Mississippi State was the only ranked team (17/18) in both polls. Cleveland State (9/3) received votes in both polls. Akron is 1-0 against these teams.
• The Zips enter the weekend receiving 21 votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 poll (Dec. 5). Additionally, seven Akron opponents also appeared in the poll, including No. 5 Cleveland State, No. 8 Kent State, No. 17 Middle Tennessee, No. 20 VCU, No. 22 Valpo and No. 25 Ohio. Toledo (2) is receiving votes. The Zips are 0-2 against these programs.
• For the first time since Nov. 12, 2007, the Zips are receiving votes in the AP poll. Akron received one vote in the Nov. 14 edition of the poll.
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 73 wins and need 19 more to move into the top-five in program history.
• 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 114 contests, Cvetinovic needs to appear in 28 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 169 blocked shots in his career, passed Romeo Travis (165, 2004-07) on Nov. 26 to become the all-time leader at Akron. Marshall also 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 148 assists and needs 114 dimes to pass Mike Dowdell (261, 1984-87) for tenth place. Abreu's 128 dimes last season were also the ninth-best of any season in program history.
Looking at the MAC Record Book
• Junior center Zeke Marshall currently sits in 12th place on the career blocked shots list for the Mid-American Conference (169). He needs nine 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 of 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 sixth place with a .621 win percentage while coaching in the MAC (185-113 overall; 165-79 Akron, 20-34 CMU), eighth in overall wins (185), 10th in conference wins (90) and 11th in league games winning percentage (.600, 90-60).
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 881 career points and needs 119 points to become the 39th player to break the 1,000-mark. If he maintains his 7.7 ppg career scoring average, he will score his 1,000th point against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 4.
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 482 wins, Akron needs 18 victories to reach the 500 plateau.
The Century Club
• Senior guard Brett McClanahan has appeared in 99 career games for the Blue & Gold. He will appear in his 100th-career game today against Cleveland State, joining senior forward Nikola Cvetinovic as the only other player on the squad to appear in 100 contests.
• Junior center Zeke Marshall is also closing in on the 100 games played mark. He currently sits at 78 games and needs to appear in 22 more contests to reach the century mark. If he doesn't miss a game, he will play in his 100th game at Ohio on Feb. 25.
Climbing the Coaching Ladder
Eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot continues to climb the coaching ranks at The University of Akron. Currently sitting at 165 wins at the helm of the Blue and Gold, Dambrot needs 14 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.
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.
Winning Ways
• In his time at Akron, head coach Keith Dambrot has led the Zips to a 165-79 (.676) record, the most wins of any UA coach in their first seven season. He ranks third in UA history in wins (165) and fifth in winning percentage (.676).
• 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.
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 350-consecutive games, 244-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 12-straight games at Valparaiso on Nov. 18 (0-of-14). Akron has shut out opponents from behind the arc seven times under coach Dambrot.
Lights, Camera, Action
The Zips will appear on television six times this season, with the potential for nine additional TV games to be added to the schedule. Akron is 1-1 so far this season on TV, dropping its last contest 77-56 to West Virginia on the Big East Network. Last season Akron went 9-7 on TV.
Zips Sign Three to 2012-13 Freshman Class
On Nov. 16, head coach Keith Dambrot announced that Carmelo Betancourt (San Juan, Puerto Rico), Jake Kretzer (Waverly, Ohio) and Reggie McAdams (Elida, Ohio) signed national letters of intent to play for the Zips in 2012.
Betancourt, a 5-11 point guard, was a starter on the U19 Puerto Rican National Team at the 2011 Nike Global Challenge and represented his native country at the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic International Game.
Kretzer, a 6-7 small forward, comes to Akron as one of the top-ranked players in the state of Ohio. He averaged 21.1 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a junior while earning All-Ohio honorable mention honors for the second-consecutive season.
McAdams, a 6-6 guard, will join Akron as the No. 5 recruit on the 2012 ESPNU Top Ohio Recruits list. The senior at Elida High School averaged 19.5 points per game during his junior season and went over the 1,000-points mark for his career. He was named second-team All-Ohio after being selected as the Western Buckeye League Player of the Year.
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.
