The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Penn State
Men's Basketball Concludes Puerto Rico Tip-Off vs. Penn State
November 18 | Men's Basketball
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Akron vs. Penn State Game Notes in PDF Format
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Akron (2-2) vs. Penn State (2-1)
Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012 • 1:30 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 1:00 p.m. ET.
Akron Coach Keith Dambrot
(Akron, 1982):
Is in his ninth season at Akron, posting a 186-89 (.676) mark. Dambrot is 294-159 (.649) in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach. This is his first meeting against Nittany Lions.
The Series: Akron trails Penn State 4-1 in the series, which began during the 1937-38 season. The Zips won the first meeting in Akron 29-16, but have lost four-straight in the series. The Zips and the Nittany Lions last met on Dec. 22, 1994, an 80-45 win by PSU.
Akron Concludes 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off
The Akron Zips conclude their trip to Puerto Rico with a match-up with Penn State in the fifth-place game.
News, Notes and Storylines
• The Zips got back into the win column with an impressive 82-63 win over UNC Asheville on Friday.
• Chauncey Gilliam recorded his first 20-point game as a Zips with 22 points against the Bulldogs. He connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field, including a 5-of-6 performance from behind the 3-point arc.
• The game also saw the return of Demetrius Treadwell (6 points, 8 rebounds) and Nick Harney (8 points, 2 rebounds).
• Up just three points at the half (37-34), Akron used a 45-point second half to gain control and cruise to the win. The UA defense held UNCA to just 18 shot attempts and 10 turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
• With his five blocked shots, Zeke Marshall moved into a tie for second place in the Mid-American Conference recordbooks with 262. He needs one swat to break a tie with Jason Terry (OU, 1992-96).
• Alex Abreu became just the ninth player in UA history with 300 career assists with his nine dimes on Friday. In the process, he passed Akron great Joe Jakubick (1980-84) for eighth place on the career list (302).
• Sunday's game against the Nittany Lions will be the first for head coach Keith Dambrot against PSU, the sixth (0-5) against a Big Ten opponent for Dambrot (third at Akron) and the 25th meeting against a Big Ten foe for the Zips (4-19).
• One Zip has family ties to Penn State as senior center Zeke Marshall's father, Jon Marshall, played basketball for the Nittany Lions from 1973-74. He helped PSU to a 29-20 record during his two years on the squad. The elder Marshall led Penn State in rebounding both seasons (262 in 1972-73; 288 in 1973-74), with his 1973-74 performance ranking seventh in the PSU recordbooks for boards in a single campaign.
A Look at the Nittany Lions
Penn State enters today's contest with a 2-1 record after defeating Providence 55-52 in overtime on Friday at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Tim Frazier leads all scorers, averaging 21.7 ppg. D.J. Newbill (12.7 ppg) and Jermaine Marshall (11.0 ppg) are also averaging double figures. Marshall (6.3 rpg) is the team's top rebounder.
Last Time Out
Chauncey Gilliam bounced back from a rough first game in Puerto Rico, scoring a game-high tying 22 points to lead the Akron Zips to an 82-63 win over UNC Asheville on Friday.
Gilliam connected on 7-of-9 shots from the field, including a 5-of-6 performance from behind the 3-point arc. He also had one steal and one assist. Alex Abreu added 12 points and nine assists, while Nick Harney, making his season debut, had eight points and two boards.
The Zips shot 49.1 percent for the game (26-of-53) and 50.0 percent from long range (12-of-24). The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 47.7 percent (21-of-44) and hit just three 3-point buckets (3-of-5).
UA won the rebound 30-29 and forced 14 UNCA turnovers. The Zips finished with 17 assists to just 12 turnovers.
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, three players have led Akron in scoring, with only Brian Walsh leading the way in the scoring column in back-to-back games.
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 1-1 on the big screen, defeating UNC Asheville 82-63 last time out on ESPN3.
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.
Against the Big Ten
The Zips are 4-20 all-time against opponents from the Big Ten Conference (Indiana, 1-0; Michigan 0-4; Michigan State 1-1; Minnesota 0-2; Northwestern 0-1; Ohio State 1-6; Penn State 1-4; Purdue 0-2). The last win for Akron against the conference came against Penn State during the 1937-38 season.
For his career, head coach Keith Dambrot is 0-5 against the Big 10, 0-2 at Akron.
Regular Season Tournaments
• Akron is 48-32, 27-25 in the Division I era (since 1980) in regular season tournaments. The Zips are 1-1 in the 2012 Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Akron has posted multiple wins in six of the last seven in-season tournaments, including the 2K Sports Classic (2-2), 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 199 opponents to 70 points or less, going 160-39 (.804). Akron has held 154 of those foes to 65 points or less, going 134-20 (.870). 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 122 points to join the group.
– 878 - 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 12 opponents that played in the postseason in 2012 and nine 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).
• Akron added UNC Asheville, (24-10, NCAA Tournament) to its resume and could add an addition 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 .339 3-point percentage.
Career List Watch
• Senior center Zeke Marshall, with 262 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 109 games over the last three seasons. He would need to appear in 32 games to tie and 33 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 302 career assists to become just the ninth player in program history with 300-plus dimes. He passed Joe Jakubick (300, 1980-84) for eighth on the list and now needs 17 assists to pass Steve McNees (2008-11) for seventh (318).
Looking at the MAC Record Book
• Senior center Zeke Marshall passed EMU's Theron Wilson and Ohio's John Devereaux (OU) on Friday and is now tied with Ohio's Jason Terry for second on the Mid-American Conference career blocked shots list (262). He is 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 16 more games.
• Compared to other coaches all-time in the MAC, head coach Keith Dambrot is fifth in league history with a .626 win percentage while coaching in the league (206-123 overall; 186-89 Akron, 20-34 CMU), fifth in overall wins (206), 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 186-89 (.676) record, the most wins of any UA coach in their first eight seasons. He is currently second in UA history in wins (186) and fourth in winning percentage (.676).
• 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 his first 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 381-consecutive games, 275-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 71 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
