Men's Basketball Takes on UNC Asheville Today in Puerto Rico

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University of Akron

Oklahoma State

Men's Basketball Takes on UNC Asheville Today in Puerto Rico

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Akron (1-2) vs. UNC Asheville (1-2)

Friday, Nov. 16, 2012 • 1:00 p.m. ET
Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Coliseo Ruben Rodriquez

Television: ESPN3. Doug Sherman (play-by-play) and Dino Gaudio (analyst).

Webcast/Live Statistics:
Available at GoZips.com – webcast and live statistics free of charge.

Radio: SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship), for free at SportsRadio1350.com and on iHeartRadio. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (analyst) will have the call beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot
(Akron, 1982):
Is in his ninth season at Akron, posting a 185-89 (.675) mark. Dambrot is 293-159 (.648) in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach. This is his first meeting against UNC Asheville.

The Series: This will be the first meeting between the Zips and the Bulldogs.

Akron Continues 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off
For the second time in program history, the Akron Zips are playing in Puerto Rico. The Zips take on UNC Asheville in game two of the three-game tournament.

News, Notes and Storylines
• Akron continues play at the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Friday against UNC Asheville. This will be the first meeting between the Zips and the Bulldogs.
•The Zips are coming off a 69-65 overtime loss to Oklahoma State on Thursday. The loss was the second of the season for UA and the second coming in overtime.
• For the first time in program history, Akron has played two overtime games in its first three contests of the season. During the 1980-81 season, Akron played two overtime games in its first four contests, going 1-3.
• Brian Walsh (14/10) and Zeke Marshall (12/10) each recorded a double-double against the Cowboys. It was the first time since March 13, 2010, that two UA players recorded double-doubles in the same game. Chris McKnight (18/10) and Jimmy Conyers (19/12) recorded the last pair of double-doubles in the same game in the Mid-American Conference Title Game against Ohio.
• The Zips are now 2-2 in Puerto Rico (0-1 Puerto Rico Tip-Off , 2-1, San Juan Shootout).
• With his two blocked shots against Oklahoma State, Zeke Marshall tied Eastern Michigan's Theron Wilson (1992-96) for fourth place on the MAC career blocked shots list (257).
• Akron is 5-2 all-time against the current members of the Big South Conference (0-1 Coastal Carolina, 1-0, Gardner-Webb, 1-0 Liberty, 2-0 Radford, 1-1 Winthrop).

A Look at the Bulldogs
UNC Asheville enters today's contest with an identical 1-2 record after falling 75-68 to Tennessee in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Quarterfinals.

Jeremy Atkinson (19.7 ppg), D.J. Cunningham (12.3 ppg) and Will Weeks (10.3 ppg) are all scoring in double figures while Atkinson (8.3 rpg) and Jon Nwannunu (7.0 rpg) lead the way on the boards.

Last Time Out
For the second time in three games, the Akron Zips forced overtime, this time falling 69-65 to Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday.

Akron opened the extra period with four points from Zeke Marshall, before he was called for hit fifth foul with 2:45 remaining in OT. Following a defensive stop, the Zips missed two open shots to push their lead to six or seven.

Oklahoma State's Phil Forte would cut the UA lead to one with a 3-ball and later game the Cowboys a two-point lead (67-65) with three free throws.

Alex Abreu's layup attempt with 22 seconds remaining would not fall as the Cowboys would seal the game at the line.

Brian Walsh led Akron (1-2) with his first-career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards. Zeke Marshall also added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

Just How Young Are They?
• Akron enters the season as the 15th-youngest teams in the nation, with 14 players having a total of 15 seasons of collegiate experience (1.07 years/letters won per player). In fact, 10 of 14 players have one year or less in the experience column.
• Last season, the Zips had 15 players with a total of 19 seasons of collegiate experience, the 20th-youngest team in Division I basketball (1.27 years/letters won per player. Akron is one of just four teams to appear on this list in each of the past two seasons (Navy, Illinois State and Wright State).

Who to Guard Tonight?
One aspect of the Zips' lineup that makes it so hard to defend is the ability for any player to lead the squad in scoring on any given night. Last season, eight different players led Akron in scoring, with only two players leading the way in the scoring column in back-to-back games. So far this season, Jake Kretzer and Brian Walsh (twice) have led Akron in the scoring column.

Lights, Camera, Action
The Zips will appear on television a minimum of seven times this season, with the potential for 12 additional TV games. So far, Akron is 0-1 on the big screen, falling 69-65 to Oklahoma State in overtime.

The Road Warrior
Akron takes to the road a lot in the first eight games of the season, playing six of those contests away from Rhodes Arena. The Zips have already played at Coastal Carolina (L, 74-70 OT), with road games left in Puerto Rico (three games), at Creighton and at Detroit. In all, UA will travel 6,504 miles.

One bright side to the long road stretch...the Zips will play six-straight home contests beginning with a matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the JAR on Dec. 18.

Regular Season Tournaments
• Akron is 47-32, 26-25 in the Division I era (since 1980) in regular season tournaments. The Zips opened last season with a 2-2 mark in the 2K Sports Classic, including a season-opening 68-58 win at Mississippi State. Akron has posted multiple wins in six of the last seven in-season tournaments, including the 2K Sports Classic, the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic (2010, 3-1), the Glenn Wilkes Classic (2009, 2-2), the Legends Classic (2008, 2-2), the Top of the World Classic (2007, 2-1), the CBE Classic (2006, 1-1) and the San Juan Shootout (2005, 2-1).

Inside the Scoring Numbers
The Zips have been one of the top defensive squads in the MAC over the last nine seasons. In 274 games under head coach Keith Dambrot, the Zips have held 198 opponents to 70 points or less, going 159-39 (.803). Akron has held 153 of those foes to 65 points or less, going 133-20 (.869). On the flip side, Akron is 26-50 when allowing 70-plus points (.342).

1,000 Point Club
Senior center Zeke Marshall is on pace to become the 40th member of Akron's 1,000-point club. Marshall needs 140 points to join the group.
– 872 - Zeke Marshall (2010-Present)
39. 1,013 - Sam Serves (1942-47)
38. 1,023 - Nate Linhart (2006-09)
37. 1,041 - Hank Vaughn (1946-50)
36. 1,046 - Dru Joyce (2004-07)
35. 1,055 - Bobby Walker (1946-50)

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 in each of the last seven seasons. In fact, only 17 teams (Akron, Butler, BYU, Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Marquette, North Carolina, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Syracuse, Texas, Utah State and Xavier) have won 20-plus games in the last seven seasons.
• Taking things one step further, the Zips are one of only seven programs with at least 22-plus wins during that same stretch (Akron, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Utah State).
• On the coaching side of 20-win seasons, head coach Keith Dambrot is currently tied for 13th place among active coaches with current 20-plus game winning streaks (7) and tied for the tenth-longest streak at the same program. Only two coaches [Mark Few, Gonzaga (13); Stew Morrill, Utah State (12)] have posted longer streaks of 20-win seasons solely at mid-major programs.

Peeking at the Schedule
• In 2012-13, the Zips will face 11 opponents that played in the postseason in 2012 and eight teams that won 20-plus games.
• Akron's non-conference schedule includes four teams that finished inside the top 100 in last season's RPI (Creighton, 23; Middle Tennessee, 56; Cleveland State, 89; Princeton, 86).
• Depending on how the bracket falls during the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off, UA could add two more opponents from last season's RPI top 100 (NC State, 36; UMass, 62; Tennessee, 90) in addition to a potential high RPI opponent in the Sears BracketBusters.

2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off
• Akron will be one of eight teams to play in this year's 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Nov. 15-18 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
• The Zips will be joined in the field by Massachusetts, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Providence, Tennessee and UNC Asheville.
• The event will be Akron's second trip to Puerto Rico for a regular season tournament, but the first for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Zips played in the 2005 San Juan Shootout (Dec. 19-21), defeating Mount St. Mary's 74-61 and Mississippi State 83-72 before falling to Clemson 66-59.

Long Range Defense
The Akron defense finished the 2011-12 season allowing opponents to connect on just 30.1 percent from behind the 3-point arc (18th nationally). So far this season, the Zips are holding opponents to a .314 3-point percentage.

Career List Watch
• Senior center Zeke Marshall, with 257 blocked shots in his career, broke the career blocked shots record at Akron against Detroit on Nov. 26, 2011. Marshall also owns the single-game (9), single season (94), freshman (59), sophomore (92) and junior season (95), and Akron Rhodes Arena single-game (7) blocked shot records.
• For the third-straight season, the career games played school record could be equalled or eclipsed. Senior center Zeke Marshall has appeared in 108 games over the last three seasons. He would need to appear in 33 games to tie and 34 games to break the school record of 141, set by Steve McNees (2008-11) and Nikola Cvetinovic (2009-12).
• After breaking the freshman and sophomore season assists records, junior guard Alex Abreu is setting his sights on moving up the career top-10. He currently has 293 career assists, good for ninth on the career list. He needs seven dimes to become the ninth player in school history with 300 assists and 14 assists to pass Joe Jakubick (300, 1980-84) for eighth on the list.
Looking at the MAC Record Book
• Senior center Zeke Marshall tied EMU's Theron Wilson for fourth place on the Mid-American Conference career blocked shots list against Oklahoma State on Thursday (257). Against Ohio (Jan. 14, 2012), he became just the eighth player in MAC history with 200 blocked shots. At his current pace of 2.4 blocked shots per game for his career, he should break the MAC record of 301 (Lonnie Jones, BSU, 1998-02) in roughly 19 more games.
• Compared to other coaches all-time in the MAC, head coach Keith Dambrot is fifth in league history with a .625 win percentage while coaching in the league (205-123 overall; 185-89 Akron, 20-34 CMU), fifth in overall wins (205), sixth in league games winning percentage (.620, 103-63) and seventh in conference wins (103).

Winning Ways
• In his time at Akron, head coach Keith Dambrot has led the Zips to a 184-87 (.679) record, the most wins of any UA coach in their first eight seasons. He is currently second in UA history in wins (185) and fourth in winning percentage (.678).
• Through his first eight seasons, the program's 184 wins are the most in the MAC and tied for the 31st-best mark in the nation during that period.

Dambrot Signs Ten-Year Contract
On July 20, 2012, head coach Keith Dambrot agreed in principle to a new ten-year contract, one of the longest fixed-term contracts in all of Division I college football and basketball.
Dambrot, who has compiled a 184-87 (93-39 in Mid-American Conference play) record in eight seasons at the helm of the Zips' program, is now under contract through the 2021-22 season.

Let's Go Streaking
• Akron has enjoyed seven-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; 22-12 in 2011-12). 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 eight seasons (19-10 in '04-05).
• UA has advanced to the postseason in five-straight and six of the last seven years, participating in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 and 2011, the National Invitation Tournament in 2006, 2008 and 2012, and the CBI in 2010.
• The Zips have appeared in the MAC tournament championship game six-straight times, with those being the only six appearances in their 20 years in the league. The run is also the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Gonzaga (15).
• Akron has hit at least one 3-point bucket in 380-consecutive games, 274-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 is at 31 games. Akron has shut out opponents from behind the arc seven times under Dambrot.

A Winning Standard
Since taking over the program before the 2004-05 season, ninth-year head coach Keith Dambrot has created a winning mentality in the program that has not been seen in 112 seasons of basketball. Of the six senior classes to win 90 or more games in their career, five of those have come under Dambrot. Zeke Marshall, the lone member of the senior class that has been with Akron for his entire career, has helped Akron to 70 wins and counting.

• Class of 2010 (2007-10) – 97 wins
• Class of 2009 (2006-09) – 96 wins
• Class of 2011 (2008-11) – 94 wins
• Class of 2012 (2009-12) – 92 wins
• Class of 2008 (2005-08) – 92 wins
• Class of 1966 (1963-66) – 91 wins

The Dambrot Coaching Tree
A key part to Keith Dambrot's success has come from the knowledge and expertise of his coaching staff. Comprised of individuals that have played for him, both at Akron and previous coaching stops, the current staff includes Zips' assistant coaches Terry Weigand (Tiffin, 1985-86), Rick McFadden (Akron, 2003-05) and Charles Thomas (Eastern Michigan, 1987-89), as well as graduate manager Matt Futch (2004-2006) and video coordinator Steve McNees (2008-11).

Shaka Smart, a Dambrot assistant from 2004-06, is in his fourth season at VCU and led the Rams to the 2011 Final Four. Lamont Paris (2004-10) and Jeff Boals (2006-09) are currently on staff with Big 10 programs, including Wisconsin and Ohio State respectively.