The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Basketball Home Opener Tonight
November 16 | Men's Basketball
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Hiram (0-0)Â vs. Akron (1-0)
 Game 2 | Home Opener
Monday, Nov. 16 |Â 7 p.m. ET
James A. Rhodes ArenaÂ
Akron, Ohio
Television: NONEÂ
Radio: Akron-IMG Sports Network
Steve French (pbp) and Joe Dunn (analyst)
WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips
Meet the Coaches
Chris Kibler (Baldwin Wallace '94)
Overall Record:Â 11-14 (2nd season)Â Record at HC: 11-14 (2nd season)
Keith Dambrot (Akron '82)
Overall Record:Â 361-191 (18th season) Record at Akron:Â 253-121 (12th season)
All-Time Series
Akron leads, 41-3
Dambrot vs. HC:Â 3-0
Last Meeting:Â Akron 95, Hiram 65 Nov. 12, 2011, at Rhodes Arena
Akron basketball Has:
Been selected No. 16 on CollegeInsider.com Men's Mid-Major Top 25 preseason poll
Been selected to finish first in Mid-American Conference East preseson poll
Posted 21 or more wins for a10-straight seasons, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Ohio State
Won 252 games over last 11 seasons, most by any team in the MAC and tied for 30th in Division IÂ
Won at least 19 games in each season since the 2004-05 season
Posted an .865 winning percentage since 2004-05, ranking 14th nationally
Appeared in its 10th straight MAC semifinal game in 2015, tying Miami (Ohio) for longest streak
Won its exhibition game against Malone 113-69 on Nov. 5
Posted a 65.6 percent shooting effort, including 64.0 percent (3-pt), 73.9 percent (free throw) against Malone
Won the season opener against Cleveland State 65-53
Improved to 70-45 (.609) all-time in season opening games
THIS WEEKÂ
After Saturday's 65-53 win over Cleveland State at the Coaches vs. Cancer Doubleheader in Kent, Ohio, the University of Akron men's basketball will play host to Hiram College at James A. Rhodes Arena. The game on Monday, Nov. 16, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The Zips have won 12 of the last 14 home openers at Rhodes Arena and look to improve their all-time home opening mark of 93-21 (.816).Â
The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-IMG Sports Network [SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship) with Steve French calling the action and Joe Dunn providing analysis. The pregame show starts at 8:30 p.m. ET. A free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.
The Akron-Hiram Series
Monday's game is the 45th meeting between the two teams. The Zips are 41-3 in the all-time series and have won 39 consecutive games. Before arriving at Akron, Coach Dambrot posted a 2-0 mark against Hiram and is 1-0 as a Zip. On Nov. 12, 2011, Akron defeated the Terriers 95-65 at Rhodes Arena.
Scouting the terriers
This is the season opener for the Terriers. Hiram returns 14 players from last season, including their entire starting lineup. A year ago, senior J.J. Woodson averaged 25.6 minutes per game with team-high 16.6 points average, shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from behind the arc. Junior Jeremiah Thomas and sophomore Kelvin Jones followed with 8.4 points per game. Thomas logged 22.6 minutes a contest, shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from long distance whilegrabbing 4.6 rebounds. Jones led the squad with six boards a game in 26.1 minutes of work.
Last time out against the vikings
Five Akron players tallied double-figure points as the Zips topped visiting Hiram 95-65 in the home opener at Rhodes Arena as part of the 2K Sports Classic. Akron built a 57-35 halftime lead and continued to control the tempo in the second half, pushing its lead as high as 32 points (85-53) with 4:40 to play.Â
The Terriers opened an early 5-2 lead (18:16) and later tied the game at 7-7 with 17:20 to go in the first half, before the Zips used a 33-11 run over 8:10 on the clock to take a 40-18 lead and gain control.From there, Akron kept the pressure on, not allowing the Terriers to come within 15 points (2:07) the rest of the half, setting up the Zips sizable cushion at the intermission.
Akron held a 47-31 edge in rebounding and shot 49.3 percent (35-of-71) from the floor and 72.2 percent (13-of-18) from the line for the game.Hiram shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the field and 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from the charity stripe.
What's Ahead
The Akron basketball team will begin the 2015 NIT Season Tip-Off, playing Arkansas, Villanova, Green Bay and Charleston Southern.
Akron will play Arkansas on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. ET in Fayetteville, Ark which will be broadcast on the SEC Network. From there, the squad will then travel to Villanova, Pa., to take on Villanova on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 4:30 p.m. ET and can be viewed on Fox Sports 1, before traveling to Green Bay, Wis., to face Green Bay on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 8 p.m. ET and can be viewed on ESPN3.
Akron will conclude the NIT Season Tip-Off by playing host to Charleston Southern on Friday, Nov. 27, at James A. Rhodes Arena at 7 p.m.
Starting the Season Off Right
The Zips are 70-45 (.609) all-time in season openers. Taking it a step further, Akron is 56-12 (.824) when starting the season at home. UA has opened the season at home six times under 12th year head coach Keith Dambrot, standing 5-1. In addition, the Zips own a 93-21 home opening record at Rhodes Arena and have been winners in the last 12-of-14.
