Men’s basketball

Although I’m fairly certain Nevada is the better team, I will defer to the Buchtelite’s new sports editor Adam Ferrise.

On his new blog, he provides six reasons Akron will knock off the Wolf Pack. He predicts a 67-60 Zips win.

• The PD’s Elton Alexander brings up some interesting points in his game preview, including the fact that Akron’s RPI will rise, win or lose.
• Keith Dambrot told the Nevada Appeal he will use a variety of tempos and schemes against the Wolf Pack. Nick Fazekas said he is excited to see what Romeo Travis is capable of, since Travis had a bad game in the teams’ matchup last season.
• Danny Sheridan is going with Akron by 1.5 points.
• The line moved to Akron minus 2.5 points in some sportsbooks.

One thing is certain: Akron is getting respect. The fact that the Zips are favored to beat a top-25 team shows where Dambrot has taken the program. A win tonight would almost have MAC Championship implications in terms of fan support.

I just don’t think Akron will do it tonight unless they hit 50 percent of 3-point attempts and force about 20 turnovers.

Prediction: Nevada 78, Akron 71.

Football

I remember one of the final press conferences of the season I asked J.D. Brookhart whether he will swap his 3-3-5 defense for a more conventional scheme — especially considering the team struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks.

He asked if I had any suggestions on how to recruit defensive linemen.

Touche.

But it seems the team is shooting for decent d-line players and getting some this recruiting season. The newest is Jarvis Givins, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle from Miami.

Givins is seen as a high-potential player who simply needs to improve on his technique. Florida International, Colorado, Western Michigan, South Florida, Rutgers and Central Florida offered Givins a scholarship. He had interest from North Carolina and West Virginia.

Scout.com gives Givins two stars and calls him the 92nd best defensive tackle in the country. Rivals.com does not rate him at all. Givins joins Joe Rash and Shane Shead as current d-line commitments.

Men’s basketball

Maybe oddsmakers know something I don’t.

They have the Zips as a 1.5-point favorite to beat Nevada tomorrow. The over-under is at 140. Perhaps this spread is the result of Akron having an immaculate against-the-spread success rate.

Not that anyone asked, but my line would be Nevada minus five with an over-under of 155. It’s not that I don’t think Akron can win. I just would save my guarantee for some other night.

• Tom Gaffney’s preview describes the up-hill battle the Zips will have. Coach Keith Dambrot acknowledges the awful matchups, but says his team will play hard.
• Romeo Travis will play Friday. I’m speculating he skipped a study table or something minor for his one-game suspension.
• I don’t think you can call yourself an Akron fan if you don’t attend this game. A win could propel the Zips into the NCAA Tournament.

Men’s basketball

If only Nick Fazekas used common sense.

Experts considered the 2006 NBA Draft as one of the weakest in 10 years. Nick, you would’ve gone pretty high.

Now you’ll have to duel Greg Oden and three other stud freshmen, who (if not for David Stern) would have turned pro after high school.

Oh yeah, and now the Zips will pray they can contain you and No. 20 Nevada Friday at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Arena.

Fazekas, a 6-foot-11 forward for the Wolf Pack, is one of college basketball’s most complete players. He owns an inside-outside offensive game not seen since Kevin McHale. If that’s not enough, he leads the nation in rebounding with 12.8 per game.

Last year, Fazekas terrorized Akron’s front line for 24 points and 14 rebounds. That’s a front line now without Rob Preston and Matt Futch. Even then, Akron had to double- and triple-down so much that the Wolf Pack shot 63 percent from 3-point land.

Yeah. This team is scary, especially considering Akron has shown it is prone to giving up big nights to players over 6-10 who are only average.

So you’re wondering if there’s a chance the Zips can win. There is. Akron has won 21 games in a row at Rhodes Arena. Truthfully, though, the Zips haven’t played anyone like Nevada on their own court.

Nevada also has weaknesses. Sort of.

This season, the Wolf Pack has more turnovers than its weaker opponents. It would stand to reason that pressuring Nevada’s guards in the backcourt would be advantageous. UNLV leveled Nevada its only loss of the year, and the Running Rebels did it by forcing 21 turnovers, while only committing 11 of their own.

Akron will also need to take and make a lot of 3-pointers. Long caroms will be easier to rebound for the Zips. They also need to attack Nevada’s guards. The Wolf Pack is quite thin in the backcourt. Foul trouble would force coach Mark Fox to insert some of his inexperienced guards.

Nevada starts three guards. Ramon Sessions is a solid point guard who can get to the hoop. He averages 12.1 points and 4.8 assists per game. Marcelus Kemp makes half of his 3-pointers and is second on the team with 18 points per game.

Still, the game probably will come down to Fazekas. If the superstar makes shots — especially from the perimeter — Akron is toast no matter what.

I will have a prediction either tomorrow or Friday. If you can’t tell from the tone of this post, I’m not optimistic.

Hopefully Fazekas oversleeps and misses the plane to Akron tomorrow.

Track

Coach Dennis Mitchell reeled in three local products in this year’s recruiting class.

A fourth broke Auston Papay’s record in District 10 in Pennsylvania.

Men’s basketball

Akron reminded its fans tonight how the Zips will win: defense.

St. Francis shot just 24 percent in Akron’s 79-44 blow-out victory.

Without Romeo Travis, who was suspended for violating team rules, Akron also won the rebounding battle, despite a size disadvantage. Quade Milum stepped up with a double-double (10 rebounds and 10 points). Coach Keith Dambrot said Travis will play against Nevada.

Akron had six players score at least nine points. Jimmy Conyers may have stepped into Nate Linhart’s role as the top small forward. Conyers looked more comfortable tonight, scoring nine and grabbing five rebounds. I’m just waiting for him to have an explosive "coming out" game.

I hate to be a downer, but the final minutes of the game bothered me. While the Zips held a lead around 30, the backups fired up 3s and played offense like it was an all-star game. I realize it’s the only time they get to play, but running up the score in garbage time is bush league.

The athletic department, however, had to be pleased with how many teddy bears fans threw on the floor at halftime. The announced total was 370 if I’m not mistaken.

• Kent State gave Duke a scare tonight at Cameron. The Blue Devils eventually won 79-72, but the game was very close the whole way. Hate Kent all you want (and I do), but a Flashes win would’ve helped the MAC significantly. The ACC refs probably hurt Kent’s chances, too. The foul count was KSU 25, Duke 16.
• With Akron’s loss to Illinois-Chicago, the Zips dropped one spot to ninth in the Mid-Major Top 25. No other MAC team made the list, but Ohio is creeping up.

Women’s basketball

Who would have imagined the women’s basketball team would have more wins than the football team this year?

Akron beat St. Francis tonight, 71-54. The Zips (6-5) now boast a five-game winning streak, their longest since I was 10 years old (1995).

The team played scrappy defense and seemed to hustle more for loose balls tonight. Freshman power forward Riana Miller dropped 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Niki McCoy scored 21. Freshman point guard Sarah Tokodi is an exciting player to watch. She added 14.

Notice I mentioned their rank. These underclassmen are going to make this team good and possibly challenge for a MAC Championship in two years. Also notice I said in two years. Although the Zips have sliced through some weak competition, the conference season won’t be so good to them. In fact, coach Jodi Kest should be thrilled with a .500 record in the MAC.

Just remember that this young trio will make women’s basketball at UA matter someday.

Men’s basketball

In what stands to be an unpopular move with the AK-Rowdies student section, the athletic department is selling a portion of the lower-level end zone tickets.

It looks like this move will only be in effect for the next four games, including tonight’s 7 p.m. contest against St. Francis (Pa.).

We should see tonight whether this move pays off for the athletic department. By "paying off," I mean financially. It can only hurt the stadium atmosphere.

• There is no line on tonight’s game. I would make it around Akron minus 25.

Women’s basketball

Don’t forget the women will play tonight at 5:30. The Zips can win their fifth straight over St. Francis (3-6).

Football

Two defensive back prospects committed today to play at Akron…

• Sean Fobbs, a 6-foot-1 safety from Miamisburg, Ohio, also had scholarship offers from Kentucky, Buffalo, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan. Fobbs is the No. 10 safety in Ohio, according to OhioVarsity.com. Rivals.com and Scout.com give him two stars. Scout calls him the 89th best safety in the nation. Fobbs was waiting for an offer from West Virginia or Michigan State but never got it.
• Miguel Graham, a 5-9 cornerback transfer from Coffeyville Community College, comes from a team full of prospects. Rivals.com gives Graham two stars. I really like bringing in juco transfers, rather than battling Kent State and Eastern Michigan for players who probably aren’t Division I talent.

Men’s basketball

Remember how big-name wrestlers would warm up for a pay-per-view title match by taking down a mid-carder on WCW Saturday Night?

Well, "Ravishing" Rick Rude (Akron) will battle "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton (St. Francis - Pa.) at 7 tonight at Rhodes Arena.

As long as the Zips can negate the Red Flash’s height advantage by winning the rebounding battle, Akron should blow out St. Francis, the preseason choice to be the worst team in the Northeast Conference.

St. Francis is 4-5 with few worthy wins to its resume. The Red Flash’s best game probably was a 60-56 loss at home against Bucknell.

However, its second-leading scorer, J.R. Enright, is 6-foot-10. Enright is a solid defender down low, too. Coach Bobby Jones also plays 6-9 forward Bass Dieng about 20 minutes a game. The team’s best player is Devin Sweetney, a 6-6 freshman who leads the team in scoring (14.3) and rebounding (7).

St. Francis is a great foul shooting team and generally keeps the scoring low. It leads the Northeast Conference in both categories. This is also one of the youngest Division I teams with only two upperclassmen getting a lot of playing time. That might be the reason the Red Flash has won only one of its four road games.

The Red Flash has some size and a versatile wing player. So in some ways, this is Illinois-Chicago Lite.

Rick Rude wins the match as long as he can avoid Bobby Eaton’s Alabama Jammer. Akron will do the same as long as the team does not get dominated inside.

Football

Akron’s 13th verbal commitment of the year is Shane Shead, a 6-foot-5 two-star defensive end from Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia.

Rivals.com considered Shead a sleeper when he left Plano West High School in Texas. Schools interested in his services included Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas A&M, Tulane and SMU.

Shead enrolled in prep school to better his grades, much like current phenom David Harvey.

Scout.com gives Shead one star, and does not mention Akron as a potential candidate. Schools on that site include Baylor, N.C. State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

Considering the schools going after Shead, I’d say this is a solid recruit for the Zips.

Men’s basketball

The Zips gave up 19 offensive rebounds and missed 11 of 22 foul shots.

Basically, Akron allowed Illinois-Chicago 19 more possessions, and that alone is nearly impossible to bounce back from. The Zips also committed two unforced turnovers late in the game that stunted comeback opportunities.

The Flames won 86-80 in an entertaining game that Akron really gave away from the paint and the free throw line. Five UIC players scored in double figures. The Flames shot 40 percent but with 19 extra possessions, it’s not hard to outscore your opponent.

Here are some notes from the game…

• Chris McKnight looks more comfortable. His long-range shooting surprised me. He scored seven points and had four rebounds.
• Nick Dials has blossomed defensively. He’s also underrated off the dribble. I just don’t like how he’s so streaky from 3.
• Cedrick Middleton hit some big 3s in his return home. The Chicago native finished with 15 points.
• Is it evident to anyone else that Akron lacks a go-to player? Dru Joyce and Dials hit big shots. Romeo Travis, who scored 24 tonight, gets a lot of buckets in the offense. Still, there is no obvious choice, and that makes late-game situations much more nerve wracking.
• Keith Dambrot is right about a weakness at small forward. John Rybak looks lost. Nate Linhart is mostly a nonfactor. Jimmy Conyers makes bad decisions. I’m still holding out hope Conyers settles down and becomes a contributor. Coaches say it takes a while for the game to "slow down" for freshmen.
• Jeremiah Wood injured his hip in practice yesterday and did not play. Needless to say, Akron could have used his rebounding.
• I think we saw the same UIC team that nearly beat Illinois last weekend at the United Center, not the Flames who the Miami RedHawks blew out.
• I’m not really upset with the team’s performance. They just needed to make more free throws and box out, which is tricky while playing a zone and you’re already undersized. With Wood, I think the Zips win. Moot point.

Men’s basketball

Romeo Travis is taking advantage of the Flames’ poor interior defense, often finding himself with open layups.

He has 24 points with 3:15 remaining.

Watch to see if Othyus Jeffers fouls out. If that happens, UIC has very little on offense.