Men’s basketball

This game might as well be played on a neutral floor.

Eastern Michigan averages just 791 fans per game, the ABJ’s Tom Gaffney writes.

• The ABJ’s George Thomas reports getting national exposure on ESPN2 is a good thing. No kidding.
• The Zips are 12.5-point favorites. The over-under is 135.5.
• Danny Sheridan agrees.

Since I’m heading to a casino tonight, I’ll be sure to put some cash on the Zips with the points. Nothing Eastern Michigan does worries me without its injured star Carlos Medlock.

Akron rolls.

Prediction: Akron 81, Eastern Michigan 59

Miscellaneous

The Akron Beacon Journal and Ohio.com has bought out Rasor on the Zips.

Don’t worry, I will still blog each day. I just have a different employer.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Writing an unbiased blog about the university that pays me is a giant conflict of interest.

Men’s basketball

Here are some good stories from today’s Buchtelite…

¥ Sports editor Adam Ferrise breaks down Akron’s fearsome defense.
¥ I broke down Eastern Michigan. It’s a different story than the preview I posted below.
¥ Ferrise talks about the BracketBuster matchup with Austin Peay.
¥ My column asks students why they don’t attend Zips games. (The average student attendance is 358.) I’ll post the column below…

I didn’t see you at the Zips game Saturday.

Yes, you - the typical University of Akron student reading this column.

Only 379 of you showed up Saturday to watch the most dominant UA squad since the university went to Division I in 1981. And that is higher than the average student turnout this season of 358.

Yes, that means only 1.5 percent of the students care enough to attend a game for their Mid-American Conference-leading Zips.

On Saturday, they muzzled a potent Western Michigan offense. Akron put together some terrific possessions on the other side of the floor, too.

Watching these games, you needn’t worry about boredom. They make defense fun to watch. Junior center Quade Milum hops like a track star. In fact, he is one. Most of his leaps are used to swat interior shots.

Akron also boasts a tremendous athlete at guard named Cedrick Middleton. With his slashing to the hoop, long-range shooting, speed and defense, he might be the most complete player in the Mid-American Conference.

Heck, I haven’t even mentioned seniors Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis - LeBron’s buddies who have been the anchors for Keith Dambrot since he took over as coach.

You’re missing a lot. Oh yeah, and the games are free for students, too.

I don’t mean for this to be a pep rally on a newspaper sheet. I see the lack of student attendance as a shame for each of you who sit home. You are missing high-energy basketball.

I am well-acquainted with your excuses. You are skeptical. This is not the ACC, or even the Missouri Valley Conference. A MAC school has little chance to make SportsCenter highlights, much less the Final Four. I won’t dispute that.

A couple of my friends are non-Zips fans, but they gave the team a chance on Saturday. They left Rhodes Arena impressed by the product of basketball the Zips display. In fact, my buddies plan to return for the final five home games.

It shouldn’t be all on the students, however. The athletic department must do its job, too. The game-day production is shoddy. Most of the students are sprinkled throughout the bleachers.

How about killing the lights during player introductions? What about placing a larger student section - not exclusively for AK-Rowdies - behind the visitors’ bench? I’d like to see a halftime show that is moderately entertaining. (In other words, playing “Let’s Make a Deal” with silly prizes is out). Let’s also advertise with more billboards to create a buzz in the community.

I’m sick of hearing about Greg Oden and the Buckeyes, who play basketball 125 miles away from where we live. Let’s have some hometown pride. Water cooler discussions should focus on Akron, not a school in Columbus.

So here’s the plan. Find a friend and demand you guys spend a couple hours taking in a Zips game.

You will come back.

Men’s basketball

Akron’s chances at an at-large bid to the Big Dance just fell to "slim to none."

The Zips drew Austin Peay for their BracketBuster game on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The Governors (13-6, 10-1 OVC) have an RPI of 134, which will do little to boost Akron’s 104 ranking.

I suppose the Zips can still win out and get a nice NIT bid.

I just spoke with Keith Dambrot. Understandably, he knew little about the Governors.

I asked him about the other MAC schools who will play better teams, like Ohio and Kent State. Dambrot responded that Austin Peay may be better than Old Dominion and George Mason — despite inferior RPIs.

Then came the certain truth: "Our league will only get one bid," he said.

Today’s Buchtelite includes four men’s basketball stories: profiling the terrific defense, why students need to come to these games (my column), about the BracketBuster game and my preview of the Eastern Michigan game. I will post them tomorrow, as soon as our Web site works out its kinks.

• I will be out of town from Wednesday until Sunday. You can keep up to date on Adam Ferrise’s blog, Buchtelite.com or Ohio.com. If you must know, I’ll be in the Bahamas, where forecasts call for 80-degrees and sun. Leave your bitter comments below.

Men’s basketball

Coming into this week, I thought Eastern Michigan (8-12, 3-4 MAC) would give Akron a good test Wednesday night.

The Eagles have a lightning quick point guard in sophomore Carlos Medlock. He’s a pesky defender, great scorer and plays point guard like an upperclassman.

Akron caught a huge break today (literally) when Eastern Michigan announced guard Medlock will miss the rest of the season with a broken right foot.

Just a day earlier, Medlock dropped 26 points to help beat Buffalo. The sophomore led the Eagles in scoring (13.2 ppg) and assists (3.3 apg).

Even though this injury will benefit Akron on Wednesday night, it’s truly a shame to see such a talented MAC kid fall to an injury that almost certainly will derail a team’s season, and perhaps the player’s future (which might have included the NBA in Medlock’s case).

How much would Medlock have helped Eastern Michigan against the Zips? Let’s look at last year. Akron beat EMU twice, but Medlock tallied a combined 37 points and 11 assists.

Now that he’s gone, the Eagles have little chance against Akron. They already were in the bottom four teams in the MAC in scoring offense and defense.

Junior forward Jesse Bunkley, a junior college transfer, becomes the first option on offense. He’s undersized at 6-foot-4, but has a decent 3-point stroke. Bunkley is the team’s second-leading scorer at 11.3 points per game.

Freshman power forward Brandon Bowdry is a decent rebounder at 5.4 rpg. Aside from those guys, there really should be no concern for the Zips offensively.

Defensively, the team allows a lot of points, blocks few shots and doesn’t steal the ball too often. Just like against Western Michigan, Akron’s big men should be able to use their muscle and athleticism to get easy baskets.

The Eagles are a young team. The Medlock setback probably will devastate the momentum the team had gained by already matching last year’s MAC win total. It’s possible the team finds a replacement at point guard and rallies again, but it won’t happen Wednesday.

If the spread is anywhere near single digits, take the Zips. I would place it at Akron minus 17.

¥ The Zips picked up more votes in the AP Poll today. They now have five, which is good for 47th in the nation.

¥ The BracketBuster matchups will be on ESPNU at 6. I’m not holding my breath on a great team coming to Rhodes Arena.

Football

As recruiting season winds down, let’s take a look at players who are mulling over a scholarship offer from Akron, according to Rivals.com…

• Mike Brown, a two-star running back from Florida. The 5-foot-7 speedster says Akron is the leader, with Missouri and Northern Illinois trailing. Iowa State and Akron are his only offers. My bet is he’ll sign with the Zips. This is the Mike Brown who runs a sub-4.4 in the 40, not the one who can’t run an NBA offense to save his life.
• Dennis Mathis, a two-star running back from Virginia. He holds offers from Akron, Ohio, Kent State and Marshall.
• Brian Sumlar, a two-star running back from Florida. He recently decommitted from Duke because of "personal issues." Wyoming and Akron are his other offers.
• Morgan Wililams, a three-star running back from Canton McKinley. There is nothing really new to report. He’s still considering scholarship offers from Indiana and Akron. Other schools of interest include Florida State, Louisville, Wisconsin and Toledo.
• Haroon Brown, a two-star fullback from Virginia (the same high school as Mathis). Akron and Miami (Ohio) have offered.
• Kevin Nichols, an unrated wide receiver from Virginia. Akron is his only offer, but Marshall also is in the running.
• Michael Rainey-Wiles, a two-star wide receiver from Pittsburgh. Akron is his only offer. I can see why. He’s only 5-foot-8 and runs a 4.66 in the 40.
• Jeff Spikes, a two-star offensive tackle from Painsville, Ohio. Spikes really wants to go to Ohio State, but he’ll probably decide between offers to Akron, Illinois, Bowling Green and Toledo.
• Carson Byrd, a two-star defensive end from Trotwood, Ohio. He has eight offers, mostly to D-IAA schools, but also to Akron and Kent State.
• Patrick Hampton, a two-star defensive end from Georgia. He has offers to Purdue, South Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Akron and Miami (Ohio). Purdue and South Florida are most likely destinations.
• Kyle Kozak, an unrated defensive end from Pennsylvania. Akron is his only offer, but he is interested in Pittsburgh, too.
• Jeremiah Martin, a two-star defensive end from Maryland. Because of its "family-oriented" atmosphere, Akron is the leader. Other schools to offer Martin a scholarship include Cincinnati, Boston College, Michigan State, Temple, Tennessee, Buffalo, Miami (Ohio) and Delaware.
• Lawrence Brewer, an unrated defensive end from Maryland (the same high school as the indecisive wide receiver Vincent Hill). Akron is his only offer, but Virginia (the school that stole Hill) is becoming more interested.
• Jafe Pitcock, a two-star defensive end from Piqua. The brother of Ohio State’s Quinn Pitcock holds five offers from MAC schools. The winner likely will be Ball State, Miami (Ohio) or Ohio.
• Wayne Jones, a two-star defensive tackle from Pennsylvania. Despite eight scholarship offers including Cincinnati, Akron and Kent State, Jones might choose Pittsburgh and the Panthers’ offer to greyshirt.
• Oreoluwa Fatinkun, a two-star cornerback from Perrsyburg, Ohio. He has offers from four MAC schools, including Akron, but is waiting for word from Michigan State.
• Chad Woodford, an unrated cornerback from San Bernardino Community College. Akron is his only offer, but Toledo and Minnesota are other options.
• Lamar Mason, a two-star safety from Pittsburgh. Akron, Toledo and Youngstown State are his three offers. With a 4.87 in the 40, he’s not very fast for a 5-foot-10 safety.

Men’s basketball

Tom Gaffney’s lead made me laugh this morning:

"Western Michigan had plenty of uncontested shots Saturday afternoon against the University of Akron — in warmups."

I really haven’t seen defense like that at any level of basketball. Keith Dambrot is a magician for brewing such a tidal wave of pressure without many shut-down, on-the-ball defenders.

It all started with six blocks in the first half. WMU coach Steve Hawkins said the interior defense scared his players into a passive mindset.

• Jeremiah Wood had 17 rebounds yesterday. I think Wood’s injury has forced him to become a smarter rebounder since he can’t always outleap everyone. Terry Pluto wrote a feature about Wood that discusses some things you may not know.
• Nick Goddard has officially become a caricature of himself. He jacks up 3s from the logos in pregame. He hardly allows a blink pass before he launches the ball the first time he touches it after entering the game.
• Speaking of the reserves, they showed great energy in the last few minutes. That’s terrific. Just cut down on the fast breaks and show-off 3s (Goddard). It truly looked like Akron was trying to run up the score. Seeing how WMU is a potential matchup in Cleveland, giving them extra motivation is unnecessary.

Football

Andy Alleman was sitting with some buddies watching a college basketball game on ESPN.

Then the Bottom Line presented him with a nice surprise: He had broken into Mel Kiper’s top-five guards in the NFL Draft.

The former Zips guard is training in Connecticut for the NFL Combine in late February. He has packed on nine pounds, while dropping his body-fat percentage significantly.

He signed an endorsement deal with Reebok that basically consists of Alleman getting a ton of free apparel.

By looking at the draft Web sites, it’s safe to say he’s a consensus top-five guard, and his stock is rising. That should make him a first-day pick.

Track

Akron thought its men might overcome Kent State’s but they were just two points shy.

Although the women won 96-52, the men lost a late lead and eventually the match 76-74.

Men’s basketball

The Zips absolutely shut down Western Michigan’s potent offense today in a 69-36 decision in favor of Akron.

The Barbaros — I mean, Broncos — shot just 25 percent from the field. The Zips blocked seven shots and made 10 steals (although both stats seem a little lower than I remember).

The interior defense was particularly suffocating. WMU star Joe Reitz scored only six points on 10 field goal attempts.

On offense, it was Nick Dials from long range and Romeo Travis inside. They scored 12 and 17 respectively. Travis really impressed me with his low post scoring. I don’t have rebounding stats in front of me, but it seemed Jeremiah Wood was very active on the boards.

Men’s basketball

Tom Gaffney wrote an interesting feature on Quade Milum in today’s ABJ.

• Elton Alexander talks about how stud freshman David Kool wound up at Western Michigan in his MAC Insider.
• This is unrelated to basketball, but OU is dropping four programs. Too bad basketball and football were not included in the cuts.
• The line is still Akron minus 12. The over-under is 145.

This game is on ESPN2, but I expect that should help attendance, rather than persuade people to stay home to watch.

When national TV is there, it gives some legitimacy to the event and should coax more people out to Rhodes Arena.

I believe Akron will win big. I like WMU as a sleeper team in the MAC Tournament, but the Broncos are terrible on the road. Couple that with awful interior defense, which the Zips’ three big men should take advantage of.

There is a scenario where Akron loses. If the Zips guards play patty cake outside the arc and never make an attempt to go inside, the offense could stall. Someone needs to consistently body Joe Reitz on the perimeter, too.

Keith Dambrot probably won’t let those things happen.

Prediction: Akron 79, Western Michigan 61

Men’s basketball

Western Michigan, Akron’s opponent Saturday, is a pretty good team — at home, that is.

The Broncos are 40-6 during Steve Hawkins’ three plus years as coach. This year, they are 1-7 on the road, although most away games have been against good teams.

That brings me to the Broncos’ strength of schedule, which is 84th best in the nation. Suddenly, their 9-10 record doesn’t look so bad, especially once you couple that with a 4-2 mark in the MAC.

Junior Joe Reitz leads Western’s attack. The 6-foot-7 center was the MAC Report Online’s player of the year last season.

In the Zips’ three victories over WMU last season, Reitz was not the force he had been most of the year.

Statistically, the Broncos are the NCAA equivalent of the Phoenix Suns. Score a lot, let the other team score a lot and hope the score is 80-79 in your favor when the buzzer sounds.

WMU is third in the MAC in scoring and gives up the second-most points. They fill the scoring sheets with lots of 3-pointers. Only the Zips have made a better percentage of them. Like Akron, WMU has three good long-range shooters. Michael Redell, Derek Drews and David Kool are all among in the MAC’s top seven 3-point shooters.

Defense seems to be optional. No Bronco is listed in the league’s top 15 for steals or blocks. As a team, WMU is dead last in both categories. The Broncos are below average in field goal percentage allowed, too.

Reitz (pronounced "rights") gets a lot of easy baskets. He leads the Broncos in scoring (15.1 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 rpg). Reitz is among the league leaders in both categories. This is almost hard to believe, but Reitz has not blocked a shot all year. In fact, he has only swatted 10 in his 83-game career.

Kool starts at shooting guard. The 6-3 freshman was Michigan’s Mr. Basketball — the first such award winner to play at WMU. He is one of four underclassmen guards who logs major minutes for Hawkins. The youthful backcourt might be to blame for WMU’s -2.47 turnover margin.

With all that said, the Zips should focus on keeping Reitz off the offensive glass and playing tight perimeter defense. A little backcourt pressure couldn’t hurt, either. On offense, Akron needs to work the ball inside. Keith Dambrot’s offense always appears more fluid when the ball goes inside, then out.

Maybe I’m starting to think too much like an oddsmaker, but I thought the line should be at Akron minus 12. Low and behold, the line is Akron minus 12. I’ll have more tomorrow.