The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Opens Six-Game Homestand Tuesday vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
December 17 | Men's Basketball
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Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Akron Game Notes in PDF Format
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Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-8) at Akron (4-4)
Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012 • 8 p.m. ET
Akron, Ohio
James A. 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), for free at SportsRadio1350.com and on iHeartRadio. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (analyst) will have the call following the women's game, which will start at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Akron Coach Keith Dambrot
(Akron, 1982):
Is in his ninth season at Akron, posting a 188-91 (.674) mark. Dambrot is 296-161 (.648) in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach. He is 3-0 all-time against the Golden Lions, with all three wins coming as head coach of the Zips.
The Series: Akron leads the all-time series 3-0, with all three games played at Rhodes Arena. The Zips defeated the Golden Lions 87-64 on Dec. 15, 2011.
Zips Open Six-Game Home Stand
After playing six of their first eight games on the road, the Zips open a six-game home stand on Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
News, Notes and Storylines
• Akron returns home after an 80-77 loss at Detroit on Dec. 15.
• Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell led the Zips with a career-high 20 points and grabbed eight boards to earn MAC Player of the Week honors.
• Alex Abreu, with seven assists, passed Steve McNees (318, 2008-11) for seventh place on the Akron career assists list (323). He needs four dimes to pass Nick Dials (326, 2006-08) for sixth place.
• Zeke Marshall, with five blocked shots against the Titans, now has five games this season with at least five swats and has eight multi-block performances in eight games.
• The Zips rank 19th in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (8.6) and have connected on fewer than six long balls just once this season (four, at Creighton).
• Zeke Marshall continues to own the defensive space around the rim, blocking more shots (29) than 146 DI teams and averaging more swats per game (4.14) than 229 DI squads (games through Dec. 9).
• Akron has three players scoring in double figures and seven averaging 7.4 points per game or better, including Zeke Marshall (11.4), Alex Abreu (10.5), Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell (10.2), Chauncey Gilliam (9.6), Brian Walsh (9.6), Jake Kretzer (8.9) and Nick Harney (7.4). In games through Dec. 16, the Zips are the only team in the MAC with seven players averaging at least 7.4 ppg.
• The Zips are 40-18 (.678) in the month of December under ninth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, including a 27-3 mark at home (.900).
• Tonight's game will play host to the Seventh-Annual Teddy Bear Toss. Fans will toss teddy bears and other stuffed animals onto the court at halftime. All collected toys will be donated to underprivileged children in Akron by The University of Akron Police Department.
A Look at the Golden Lions
Arkansas-Pine Bluff enters tonight's game with a 1-8 record and has lost six-straight contests. The Golden Lions have played all nine games on the road, with their last game coming on Dec. 8 (L, 65-49, at Air Force).
Arkansas-Pine Bluff has three players scoring in double figures, led by Davon Haynes (12.9 ppg). Terrell Kennedy (11.4 ppg) and Lazablan Jackson (11.0 ppg) are also averaging double figures. Haynes is the team's leading rebounder (6.6 rpg).
On the Line vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
• A win over the Golden Lions will snap a two-game losing streak.
• A victory would be the third-straight against UAPB and the third-straight at home for Akron.
Last Time Out vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Zeke Marshall led Akron with 21 points, seven blocked shots and six rebounds as the Zips defeated visiting Arkansas-Pine Bluff 87-64 on Dec. 15, 2011, at Rhodes Arena.
Marshall, who went 7-for-10 from the field and 7-for-10 from the foul line, set the arena record for blocked shots by an Akron player. Additionally, the Zips set a new arena standard for blocked shots by any team with 12.
Marshall was one of three UA players to finish with double-figure points, with Chauncey Gilliam totaling 17, on a 7-of-9 showing from the floor, and Brian Walsh with 10. Josh Egner rejected a career-high three shots, and Quincy Diggs and Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell had one block apiece.
Akron at Detroit Recap
Akron closed out a tough road schedule to start the 2012-13 campaign with an 80-73 loss at Detroit on Dec. 15 afternoon at Calihan Hall.
Despite a career-high 20 points from Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell, the Zips could not overcome 19 turnovers leading to 31 Titan points. The game ended a stretch of six games on the road in the first eight games of the season.
For the game, Akron shot 53.8 percent from the floor (28-of-52) and 40.0 percent from long range (6-of-15). The Zips connected on just 11-of-22 from the charity stripe (50.0 percent).
Detroit closed the game connecting on 41.1 percent from the floor (23-of-56) and 38.1 percent from behind the arc (8-of-21). The Titans out-rebounded the Zips 37-30 and committed 12 turnovers.
Detroit's Ray McCallum led all scorers with 21 points.
Just How Young Are They?
• Akron entered the season as the ninth-youngest teams in the nation, with 16 players having a total of 15 seasons of collegiate experience (0.94 years/letters won per player). In fact, 12 of 16 players have one year or less in the experience column prior to 2012-13.
• 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 holding top scoring honors in back-to-back games. So far this season, seven players have had a least a share of the top-scoring performance, with Brian Walsh as the only player to lead the Zips in back-to-back game.
Welcome to December
• The Zips are 40-19 (.678) in the month of December under ninth-year head coach Keith Dambrot, including a 27-3 mark at home (.900).
• Akron has won 14 of its last 15 December home games, with UA's only loss coming against VCU in overtime on Dec. 29, 2011 (76-75).
Free Basketball
So far this season, the Zips have played three overtime games in their first eight contests for the first time in program history. The previous high was two overtimes to start the 1980-81 campaign. The school record for overtimes played in a season is six, which occurred during the 1983-84 campaign.
The Road Warrior
Akron spent much of the first six weeks of the season on the road, playing six of its first eight games of the season away from Rhodes Arena. The Zips have played at Coastal Carolina, three games in Puerto Rico, at Creighton and at Detroit. In all, UA will travel 6,504 miles.
One bright side to that long road stretch...the Zips will open a six-straight home contests beginning with tonight's matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the JAR. Akron will remain in town for 26 days before heading to DeKalb, Ill., to face Northern Illinois on Jan. 12.
Treadwell Named MAC Player of the Week
Forward Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell was named Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the week, the league office announced on Dec. 17.
In Akron's lone contest last week, Treadwell scored a team and career-high 20 points while pitching in with eight rebounds (three offensive) and one assist in 23 minutes. He joins senior Zeke Marshall as the second recipient of the weekly honor (Nov. 19). The honor is the first for Treadwell.
Treadwell finished the game at Detroit connecting on 9-of-11 from the field to surpass his previous career high of 15 points, which came at Cleveland State on Dec. 10, 2011.
Now Starting for Akron
Through eight games this season, the Zips have started five different lineups. Last season, Akron had six different starting lineups, with the fifth different line-up coming 12 games into the campaign.
Home Cooking
Akron is 106-17 (.862) at Rhodes Arena under eighth-year head coach Keith Dambrot (2-0 overall, 0-0 MAC this season). The Zips have recorded 10-straight winning campaigns at home, including last season, and have won at least 13 home contests in seven-of-eight years. UA's last losing record at home came in 1995-96 (2-11).
A Tale of Two Halves
• The Zips have seen a major difference in their play between the first and second halves of games this season.
• Akron is out-scoring opponents by a slim 1.9 points per game in the first half, while allowing the competition to shoot 45.2 percent from the floor and 48.3 percent from long range.
• However, the second half has been a different story. The Zips are +6.3 points per game in the scoring column while holding opponents to just 38.7 percent shooting from the floor and 25.4 percent from behind the arc.
• UA is shooting 2.5 percent better in the second half (48.6 vs. 46.1) and is converting on 69.4 percent from the charity stripe, compared to 63.5 percent in the first 20 minutes.
Shooting the Lights Out
After a sub-par shooting performance against Oklahoma State on Nov. 15 (21-of-70, .300), the Zips have been shooting the lights out over the past five games. Akron is connecting on 50.4 percent from the field (135-of-268) over the previous five contests, including better than 50 percent in three of the last four contests.
In UA's first three games, the Zips shot 41.5 percent from the floor and shot better than 40 percent just once (57.6 percent vs. John Carroll).
Solid Bench Play
• The Akron bench has been the catalyst for success under ninth-year head coach Keith Dambrot and this year is no different.
• The Zips' bench holds a +10.4 scoring advantage over the competition (27.4-17.0), having been out-scored just once this season (38-21 vs. Middle Tennessee, 12/2/12). The Akron reserves are shooting 42.3 percent from the floor while holding opponents to just 37.0 percent.
Breaking Down the Stats
• Junior guard Alex Abreu ranks fifth in the MAC and 22nd in the nation in assist rate, recording a dime on 40.14 percent of the field goals made by the Zips while on the floor.
• Senior center Zeke Marshall leads the MAC in block rate and is fourth in the nation, swatting 14.49 percent of the shots taken by Akron opponents while on the floor. Redshirt freshman center Pat Forsythe is fourth in the MAC (12.45) in the same category. He would rank eighth in the nation if he qualified (20 mpg min.).
• As a team, the Zips are tied for 67th nationally in points per possession, averaging 1.04 points per offensive possession. Akron's shooting has also been effective this season as UA is averaging 1.14 points per shot, which is tied for 26th nationally.
Welcome to the Block Party
• One area the Akron defense has been stout is in the shot blocking category. The Zips lead the Mid-American Conference and are seventh in the nation in blocked shots per game (7.1).
• Senior center Zeke Marshall continues to be one of the premier shot blockers in the nation. In games through Dec. 16, Marshall is fourth in the nation in blocked shots per game (4.25), has blocked more shots (34) than 184 DI teams and is averaging more swats per game (4.25) than 239 DI squads.
• Redshirt freshman Pat Forsythe is emerging into a solid shot blocker in his first season with Akron. He is second on the team and fifth in the MAC with 1.6 blocked shots per game.
• Combined, Marshall and Forsythe have more blocked shots per game (5.88) than 11 of 12 league programs (Akron, 7.1) and 332 DI teams.
RPI Watch
• Entering tonight's game, the Zips check in at No. 65 in the Ken Pom RPI rankings (games through Dec. 16). Akron's out-of-conference schedule is the 18th-hardest in the nation.
• So far, Akron has played three teams inside the top 40 of the RPI, including Creighton (No. 15), Oklahoma State (No. 24) and Middle Tennessee (No. 38).
• UA could add one more high-RPI opponent with the 2013 Sears BracketBusters event.
Inside the Scoring Numbers
The Zips have been one of the top defensive squads in the league over the last nine seasons. In 279 games under head coach Keith Dambrot, the Zips have held 200 opponents to 70 points or less, going 161-39 (.805). Akron has held 155 of those foes to 65 points or less, going 135-20 (.871). On the flip side, Akron is 27-52 when allowing 70-plus points (.342).
MAC Freshman of the Year Resume
Freshman wing Jake Kretzer is building a nice resume for Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year consideration. He ranks second in 3-pointers made (18), second in offensive rebounding (1.8 rpg), second in 3-point percentage (.450), tied for second in minutes played (27.1 mpg), fourth in points per shot (1.30), fifth in scoring (8.9 ppg) and sixth in rebounds (3.8 rpg) among all MAC freshmen in games through Dec. 16.
And Then There Were Seven
In 2004, college basketball saw 34 programs hire new head coaches, including ninth-year head coach Keith Dambrot. Of those 34 coaches to take over new programs that year, only seven of those coaches remain at the same program.
Compared to those coaches, Dambrot ranks third in wins and is one of only two coaches in that group to lead their program to seven-straight 22-plus win seasons (Thad Matta, Ohio State).
