Dec. 7, 2004

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Game 6

Akron (3-2)
vs. Cleveland State (3-0)

Wednesday, December 8
7 p.m. EST
Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio

Television: None

Radio: FOX Sports/WTOU (1350 AM) in Akron, WERE (1300 AM) in Cleveland, WNPQ 95.9 FM in Canton/New Philadelphia. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (color) (6:30 p.m. EST airtime).

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot (Akron '82):
Is in his first season with the Zips, owning a 3-2 mark. He is 111-72 in his seventh season as a collegiate head coach. He was head coach for two seasons each at Tiffin (1985-86), Ashland (1990-91) and Central Michigan (1992-93), and was the top assistant at Akron for the three seasons prior to his current post. This is his first meeting with Cleveland State.

Cleveland State Coach Mike Garland (Northern Michigan '77):
Is in his second season on the Vikings bench, holding a 7-25 record. He served as an assistant coach at Michigan State for seven years (1996-03), helping the Spartans to six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He is 0-1 all-time versus Akron.

The Series: This is the 62nd meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. Akron leads the all-time series 31-30, but CSU has won two of the last three meetings. There is a discrepancy between the CSU and UA record books on the all-time series mark (CSU lists 32-29 in favor of UA). CSU has the Feb. 9, 1977 meeting as a UA win, but the Zips actually forfeited the 82-81 2ot victory. The Zips defeated the Vikings 61-59 at Convocation Center last season (Dec. 20). The schools have met on the court in each of the last 11 seasons. The Zips hold a 19-11 edge in games played in Cleveland.

Zips Play Host To Intra-State Rival Cleveland State...
The University of Akron men's basketball team (3-2) will get to enjoy its first home game in 12 days Wednesday when Cleveland State (3-0) makes the short drive south. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST at Rhodes Arena.

Akron looks to keep a two-game home win streak alive, and to rebound from Saturday's 66-58 loss at Northern Illinois. It will be CSU's first game in six days, with its last competition coming in a 91-73 victory over Clarion on Dec. 2 at CSU's Convocation Center.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• The Cleveland State contest will be themed 70's Night, with the Zips wearing retro jerseys from the 1979-80 season. The jerseys will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefitting the Akron Athletics Diversity Scholarship Fund.

• One of the MAC's highest scoring teams, Akron is averaging 76.9 points-per-game and is shooting 46.8 percent (141 of 301) from the floor. UA also owns a +10.6 scoring margin over its opponents.

• Akron's 17.8 assists-per-game is also the highest in the league as is its 1.48 assists/turnover ratio. Akron has recorded more assists that turnovers in four of its five games, bucking the trend last Saturday at Northern Illinois.

• Akron has done a great job of protecting the basketball, sitting at +4.8 in turnover margin after finishing the 2003-04 season at -1.5. UA opponents have turned the ball over 84 times this season, compared to 60 by the Zips.

• UA's underclassmen have provided much of the team's offensive output, accounting for 60 percent of its firepower. Four of UA's top-five scorers are underclassmen.

• Sophomore point guard Dru Joyce leads the team and ranks second in the league in assists (6.0 apg). His 30 dishes make up a about one-third of the team's total (89).

• Sophomore forward Jeremiah Wood is averaging a near double-double, with a team-high 12.0 ppg and squad-best 8.0 rpg. He ranks 20th and fourth, respectively, in the league in those categories.

• Junior forward Darryl Peterson trails Wood in the scoring column, averaging 11.4 ppg. He has started in the last three games, averaging 9.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg in that span.

• The Cleveland State contest is Akron's third game in the month of December. Counting Saturday's game at Wright State (Dec. 11) the Zips will have played four games in the first 11 days of the holiday month, with three of those being on the road.

• Following the Dec. 11 Wright State meeting Akron will be idle for 11 days due to final exams, resuming competition on Dec. 23 at Dayton.

Northern Illinois Postgame Notes...
• Zach Pancratz led all scorers with 15 points, all in the second half, to lead Northern Illinois to a 66-58 victory over Akron last Saturday at Convocation Center in the MAC opener for both teams.

• Akron pulled within one, 53-52, with about seven minutes to play, but the Huskies pushed things out of reach with an 8-1 run down the stretch.

• Akron fought back from an eight-point NIU lead in the first period as well, pulling within one point with 1:47 to go, but a 4-1 run in the closing minute gave the Huskies a 30-26 cushion at the intermission.

• The Zips were held 22 points under their league-best scoring average of 80.5 points-per-game, and converted on just 8 of 19 (42.1) free throws

• Akron's 58 points, 21 made field goals and 53 field-goal attempts were all season lows. The Zips' 26 first half points was also the team's lowest output in a half this season, with the previous being 31 in the first period vs. Mt. Union (Nov. 23).

• UA freshman forward Quade Milum logged his first collegiate start and tallied his first block. Zips rookie Cedrick Middleton tied his career-best of 10 points in a career-high 20 minutes played.

• UA forward Jeremiah Wood's six points snapped a streak of four-straight double-digit scoring games this season. It was his worst offensive showing since putting up just two points at Ball State in the first round of the MAC Tournament (March 8).

• UA's Rob Preston's nine points was a season high.

On The Line Vs. Cleveland State...
• An Akron win would make the Zips 4-2 and be the best start of a first-year head coach at the school since Alex Adams opened his tenure with a 5-2 mark in the 1975-76 season.

• An Akron victory would be its third straight at home this season and fourth in five games overall.

• An Akron win would make the Zips 3-0 at home and would be identical to its record last season after three home contests.

• An Akron win would be its second-straight over Cleveland State and first over the Vikings at Rhodes Arena since Dec. 21, 2000 (82-80).

Tale Of The Tape...

Category               UA (3-2)  CSU (3-0)
Scoring                     380        243
  PPG                      76.0       81.0
  Scoring Margin          +10.6      +19.7
Field Goals-Attempts    141-301     88-191
  Field Goal Pct.          .468       .461
3PT FG-Attempts          46-122      25-68
  3PT FG Pct.              .377       .368
  3PT FG MPG                9.2        8.3
FT-Attempts               52-98      42-69
  Free Throw Pct.          .531       .609
Rebounds/RPG           179/35.8   110/36.7
  Rebound Margin           +0.4       +3.3
Assists/APG             89/17.8    59/19.7
Turnovers/TPG           60/12.0    42/14.0
  TO Margin                +4.8       +8.7
  Assist/TO ratio           1.5        1.4
Steals/SPG               35/7.0    32/10.7
Blocks/BPG               18/3.6      9/3.0

Last Time They Met...
Wednesday marks the 62nd all-time meeting between Akron and Cleveland State. Akron claimed a 61-59 win in the last meeting, which came on Dec. 20, 2003, at CSU's Convocation Center.

• A Romeo Travis steal leading to a layup by Jeremiah Wood with eight seconds on the clock was the difference in Akron's 61-59 victory.

• The Zips trailed by six, 55-49, with 3:34 left in regulation. A steal by Wood led to a layup from a streaking Derrick Tarver to cut the deficit to four at 55-51. The Vikings missed their next shot leading to another Tarver layup, pulling the Zips within two at 55-53 with 2:10 remaining in the second stanza.

• CSU's Percell Coles sank a layup to move the Vikings lead back to three at 59-56 with 22 ticks left on the clock. On the next possession Tarver hit a three from 35 feet tying the score up at 59 apiece and leading to the last second layup to clinch it for the ZIps.

• Akron opened the second half with a 14-6 run and took a 33-29 lead at 15:49.

• Akron shot a dismal 19 percent (7 of 37) from the field in the first half and trailed by as much as six points on two occasions, the last coming at 4:05 (19-13). The Zips used a 6-0 run in the closing minutes to whittle down the Vikings lead and UA trailed 22-21 at the intermission.

• Derrick Tarver's 19 points led three Zips in double-figures. He also tied a season-high with six rebounds (vs. James Madison, Dec. 6).

• Jeremiah Wood finished just shy of a double-double, tallying 11 points and nine rebounds.

• Matt Futch finished with 10 points, tying his career-high despite getting in foul trouble early in the second half.

• Romeo Travis' four blocks (all in the first half) was a career-high. He had three at Hampton (Dec. 1).

• Dru Joyce tied career highs in assists (5) and steals (2).

• Mario Collins' five steals was a career high, he had notched two takeaways on two occasions prior.

• Nick Meyers (ankle) dressed but did not play and Johnny Hollingsworth (bruised back) did not play in the second half.

News, Notes, Trends...
• All three of Akron's wins have come by at least a 12-point margin of victory, with the largest being 30 (77-47) over Mount Union (Nov. 23). Last season the Zips registered four wins of 13 points or greater.

• Akron has yet to have a player foul out this season, with just two athletes drawing four fouls in a game (Darryl Peterson at Drake/Nov. 19 and Cedrick Middleton at NIU).

• Bubba Walther, who leads the team with 12 made 3-pointers, has yet to sink one on the Rhodes Arena court, missing all seven attempts. Walther is 12 of 33 from three on the road (.364).

• Akron has won the rebound battle just once this season, edging Mount Union (Nov. 23), 50-30.

• Akron has used a different starting five in four of its five games. Head coach Keith Dambrot went with the same starting unit versus Hampton (Nov. 27) and at Duquesne (Dec. 1) (Dru Joyce, Mario Collins, Jeremiah Wood, Darryl Peterson, Nick Meyers). Last Saturday at Northern Illinois, freshman Quade Milum replaced Meyers. Wood and Joyce have started in all five contests, and Peterson in four (Mt. Union/Nov. 23).

• Junior forward Darryl Peterson tallied his 45th career double-double with his 11 point showing at Northern Illinois last Saturday. He has played in a team-high tying 68 games (Nick Meyers) and has logged 53 starts. He is 147 points shy of 1,000 in his UA career.

• Senior guard Mario Collins, the shortest player in the league (5-foot-5), recorded his first career block against Mount Union (Nov. 23) and tallied another last Saturday at Northern Illinois. He is one of 10 Zips to have six rebounds or better.

• Senior forward Rick McFadden notched a season-high 13 points (5 of 10 FGs/1 of 3 3FGs) versus Hampton (Nov. 27), but has averaged just 5.5 ppg in the two contests since. He also had a season-best five rebounds versus Hampton. He led the MAC in 3-point shooting last season (48 percent).

Second Wind...
One of the reasons for UA's 3-2 record has been strong play in the second half. Although the Zips have outscored their opponents by a 380-327 margin overall, UA holds only a 181-174 advantage in the opening stanza. In the second half, however, the edge belongs decisively to Akron by a 199-153 gap. Coincidentally, the Zips have held the lead at both the 10- and five-minute marks of the second half in four of five contests, with the exception being at NIU.

Line Shift...
One of the keys to first-year head coach Keith Dambrot's up-tempo system is fresh legs. To that extent, UA fields an 11-man rotation nearly every night. Nine of those players are averaging 10 or more minutes a night with Dru Joyce (30.2), Jeremiah Wood (25.0) and Mario Collins (23.0) averaging more than 20 minutes per game. The duo of Joyce and Wood are the only two players on the team to start in all five contests. All 15 players on the active roster have seen game action and tallied statistics.

No Bench Warmers Here...
UA's reserves have been a key part of the team's early season success, with its bench tallying at least 32 percent of the scoring in each game. Through five games, Akron's non-starters have tallied 189 of the squad's 380 points, or 49.7-percent of its scoring. Against Mount Union (Nov. 23), the bench accounted for 52 of 77 points (.675). Against Northern Illinois Saturday, the reserves combined for nine points in the first half before tallying 24 of 32 (.750) points in the second stanza. In the team's three road excursions, the bench has been responsible for 101 of the 223 points (.452).

Youth Movement...
• Akron's underclassmen have led the way on the stat sheet this season. Through five games, the freshmen and sophomore players have tallied 224 of 380 Akron points, or nearly 60-percent of the scoring (.589). They have also contributed 66 of the 89 assists (.741) and 101 of the 179 rebounds (.564). Four of the Zips top-five scorers are underclassmen. Two of those four are rookies, Bubba Walther (9.6 ppg) and Cedrick Middleton (6.8 ppg).

• The play of Walther and Middleton has been up-and-down - typical of first-year players. Walther has hit double figures twice, scoring a career-high 21 points (on the strength of a 6 of 10 performance from 3-point range) in the season opener at Drake (Nov. 19). He scored 15 points (all from three range) at Duquesne (Dec. 1). In the other three contests he has not produced more that seven points. Middleton has been more consistent, scoring 10 points twice (vs. Mt. Union/Nov. 19 and at Northern Illinois). He tallied five and seven points vs. Hampton (Nov. 27) and at Duquesne (Dec.), respectively. His 2.6 apg ranks second on the team, including a career-high five dish showing at Duquesne (Dec. 1).

• Sophomore forward Jeremiah Wood earned his fifth-career double-double versus Hampton (Nov. 27) (17 pts/13 rebs). He scored UA's first nine points of the second half. He has scored in double figures in four of five games this season, with the exception coming last Saturday at NIU where he scored just six.

• Sophomore forward Romeo Travis has recorded seven rebounds or higher three times this season, grabbing a season-high nine versus Mt. Union (Nov. 27). He is also UA's second leading rebounder (6.4 rpg) (Wood), a figure that ranks ninth in the MAC. That means UA is the only school to have two players ranked among the league's top-nine rebounders.

• Travis has tallied a team-high six blocks (season-high three at Drake/Nov. 19). His 1.2 bpg ranks him tied for sixth in the MAC. He had a team-best 25 rejections last season.

The Dish On Dru...
• Starting sophomore point guard Dru Joyce has impressed thus far in 2004-05 with his ball handling skills and passing abilities. He leads the team with 30 assists (6.0 apg) and is second in the conference. Joyce's assist/turnover ratio of 3.3 ranks fifth in the league, but tops among all sophomore players.

• His 30 dishes make up a about one-third of the team's total (89).

• Assists-per-game figure puts him on pace for 168 this season, which would pass the UA single-game mark of 156 set by Eric McLaughlin in 1988-89.

• Garnered his first-career double-double versus Hampton (Nov. 27), scoring 12 points to go with a career-best 10 assists.

Roster Additions...
Akron added three walk ons to its roster prior to the season. New to the squad are guard Nick Goddard (Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth HS), forward Maurice Kanaan (Akron, Ohio/Firestone HS) and guard Zach Sowers (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville HS). All three are redshirt freshman. Goddard and Kanaan were on the practice squad last season and Sower has been enrolled since last fall.