The Game: Akron Zips @ Nevada Wolfpack
==============================================
Record : 1-1
Streak : L1 (last 2 picks: AZ +3, FL -2)
Last 10: 1-1
==============================================
Today's Play: Akron Zips (19-5, 12-2(Home: 7-0, Away: 5-2)) +7 @ Nevada Wolfpack (19-5, 9-3)
Notes on Akron
• Akron is looking for its first 20-win season since 1988-89 (21-8).
• Akron is tied for the lead in the MAC East Division with Kent State.
• Akron is receiving votes in both of this week’s national polls. The Zips had eight votes in The Associated Press Top 25 and one tally in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25. UA is also ranked 12th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, in which coaches vote.
• The Zips are 8-5 in games played outside of Akron this season (6-4 road/2-1 neutral). UA’s four road losses came against Cal (Dec. 3), top-25 ranked Louisville (Dec. 10), Ohio (Jan. 24) and Kent State (Feb. 4). The team’s neutral loss came to Clemson (Dec. 21) in the title game of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
• Center Rob Preston was named MAC East Division player of the week on Monday. He averaged 15 points and 4.5 rebounds in last week’s two wins.
• Akron’s 19-5 record is its best start in the Division I era (1980-81). This will be the Zips’ second-consecutive winning season and 11th in DI history.
• UA leads the MAC in five categories – scoring (74.3 ppg), scoring margin (+10.1), assists (16.5), assist-turnover ratio (1.3) and 3-pointers made (8.1 per game).
• The Zips rank among the national leaders in assists (16.5) and fewest turnovers (12.4) per game, however, the squad has had more turnovers than assists in the last three games.
• UA’s 3-pointers made per game (8.1) also rank high nationally. The Zips have hit eight or more treys in a game 14 times this season.
• Guard Dru Joyce accounts for 116 (4.8 apg) of Akron’s 396 assists, and 62 of its 297 turnovers. He is second in the MAC in assists and first in assistturnover ratio (1.9), and his 10.4 ppg rank third on the team. His 311 career assists list him fifth all-time in program history, but he had no assists for the first time in 59 games against Bowling Green on Tuesday.
• Forward Romeo Travis leads UA and ranks in the top 10 in the league in scoring (13.8 ppg/10th in MAC), rebounding (6.4 rpg/eighth in MAC) and field goals (51 percent/10th in MAC). He tallied his ninth career double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) on Tuesday against Bowling Green
• UA uses a 10-man rotation, with eight of those averaging at least 13 minutes.
• Over the last three games Akron’s bench has outscored its opponents 104-59.
• The Zips have shot 50 percent or better from the field in two of their last three games, bucking the trend on Tuesday against Bowling Green (41.1 percent/23-of-56).
• Akron has out-rebounded three-straight and four of its last six opponents.
• UAhas not lost consecutive games this season.
• Akron swept play against MAC West Division teams this season, going 8-0 against those foes.
Leaders of the Zips
The Zips are led by junior forward Romeo Travis (6-7, 220) who is averaging 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Nick Dials (6-1,175), a transfer from Ohio State, has turned in 10.8 points per game, while junior guard Dru Joyce (6-0, 165) is averaging 10.4 ppg. Joyce has knocked down 46.2 percent of his three-point attempts (43-93), while Dials has made
a team-best 46 treys and is shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc. As a team, Akron ranks in the top 50 in the nation in both three-point field goal percentage (37.1 percent) and threepointers per game (8.1).
On The Line Vs. Nevada...
• An Akron victory would give it 20 wins in a season for the first time since 1988-89 (21-8).
• An Akron victory would extending its best-ever start in the Division I era.
• An Akron victory would be its fourth-straight, and seventh in eight games.
For full-game by game, player by player, in depth game-notes, I have provided this PDF file. (33 pages)
Nevada Wolfpack Notes
Following a 50-49 come-from-behind victory over Louisiana Tech on Monday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (19-5, 9-3 WAC) takes a break from conference action to play host to Mid-American Conference East Division leader Akron (19-5, 12-2 MAC) on Friday night in the BracketBusters presented by eBay. Friday’s contest, which ends Nevada’s three-game homestand, will tip off at 6:04 p.m. Pacific at Lawlor Events Center and will be broadcast to a national television audience by ESPNU. With Monday night’s victory over La Tech, the Wolf Pack has moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings with two weeks to go in the regular season.
Nevada has won six consecutive games, which ties for the team’s longest winning streak of the year, and is currently the longest active streak in the WAC. Nevada holds an 11-1 record at Lawlor Events Center this year and looks to win its fourth straight home game Friday against the Zips.
IN THE SERIES
Friday will mark the first meeting between Nevada and Akron, while the Wolf Pack holds a 2-1 all-time record against teams from the Mid-American Conference. The team’s last meetings with a MAC team came in the BracketBusters event as well. Nevada turned in a 60-58 win over Toledo
on Feb. 21, 2004 in Reno but dropped the return game with an 83-75 loss on Dec. 7, 2004 in Toledo.
NEVADA IN BRACKETBUSTERS
This year will mark Nevada's third appearance in the BracketBusters presented by event, which was created in 2003 in conjunction with the Western Athletic Conference, and several other top college basketball conferences to match potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. Last season, the Wolf Pack turned in a 74-64 victory over on Feb. 19, 2005 in Reno, while in 2004, Nevada edged Toledo 60-58 on Feb. 21 in Reno. As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Nevada will play at Akron in 2006-07.
NOTES FROM NEVADA’S CURRENT SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK
The Wolf Pack has won six consecutive games, which matches the team’s longest winning streak of the year... the Wolf Pack also opened this season with six straight victories... that seasonopening six-game streak included four road wins (at Vermont, UNLV, Kansas and Pacific), while Nevada’s current streak features three (at Boise State, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State)...another victory would give the team its longest streak since winning 10 straight at the
end of the regular season last year (nine straight WAC games and a BracketBuster matchup with Vermont)...five players have averaged at least eight points per game in the last six victories (Fazekas-23.2 ppg, Kemp 14.2, Shiloh 9.8, Johnson 8.7 and Charlo 8.2)... Nevada is averaging 74.2 points per game in those five wins (up from season average of 71.7 ppg) and has turned in
three of its top five scoring efforts of the season, including a season-high 90 points in its Feb. 4 win at New Mexico State...the Wolf Pack has shot 46.5 percent from the field and has outrebounding its opponents by 5.0 rebounds per tilt in the six-game stretch (35.8 to 30.8 rpg)...Nevada has also held teams to 63.3 points per game and just 28.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc (26-90) during the win streak.
NEVADA’S 20-WIN SEASONS
With the team’s next victory, Nevada will notch its third consecutive 20-win season and the eighth in school history. Last season, the Wolf Pack turned in back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. One year ago, the Wolf Pack won its 20th game of the season on Feb. 19 vs. Vermont in ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday. Last season, Mark Fox became the first Wolf Pack head coach to win 20+ games in his first year at Nevada and the seventh different Nevada mentor to reach the 20-win plateau.
Tough Defense
In its last 11 home games, Nevada has allowed its opponents to score just 55.5 points per contest (611 points). On Jan. 23, Nevada held Utah State (then the league’s leading scorer) to the Aggies’ season low-tying 59 points. The loss snapped the Wolf Pack’s streak of 33 straight victories when holding its opponent to 60 points or less, including 17 wins last season and the
first five this year. Including its two wins over La Tech, Nevada has now won 36 of its last 37 games when holding a team to 60 points or less.
The Wolf Pack holds a 15-2 record when outrebounding its opponents this season. The team outboarded WAC rebounding leader Louisiana Tech in both meetings, including a 45-37 advantage over La Tech on Thursday night and a 40-39 edge in Ruston on Feb. 2. The Bulldogs continue to lead the league with 40.3 rebounds per game and are allowing opponents just 34.0 boards per contest.
Last Important thing about NEVADA
Including an 11-1 mark this season, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 39-5 record at home since the start of the 2003-04 season (.886). Nevada was a perfect 15-0 at Lawlor Events Center in 2003-04 and turned in a 13-4 record at home last season. The Wolf Pack has won 72.7 percent of its games at Lawlor Events Center since the arena opened in 1983-84 (242-91 all-time record).
BUT.......
?? Nevada has turned in an 11-4 record in games decided by 10 points or less this season (3-1 in games decided by five or less), most recently defeating Louisiana Tech 50-49 on Monday night. The Wolf Pack has won eight of its last 11 close contests. The Wolf Pack is no stranger to close games, winning 14 of 18 decided by 10 points or less last year.
SO TO WRAP IT UP...
AKRON is a team that passes the ball great (16.5 assists to 12 turnovers a game) which just might be the potion for Nevada's defense. The Zips rebound the ball very well also and have a deep bench. Akron will be much tougher competition than LA TECH and Nevada has been squeaking by LA TECH 50-49 (trailing 36-27 @ half) . If they come out flat against the Zips, Nevada will have a much tougher time catching up. The depth of the bench will most likely help the Zips in this contest, especially taking the altitude into account. I like Akron's chances at winning this game straight up and I especially like taking 3 and a half baskets. Zips +7 in this game.
Goodluck with your decision
Akron #54:
Wins
#249 Youngstown, #306 Duquesne, #256 Mt St Marys, #115 Mississipp, #152 Wright St, #184 Ball St, #141 Toledo, #159 Western Mich (twice), #125 Northern Ill, #294 Central Mich, #267 Eastern Mich (twice), W 52-45 vs. #83 Miami Ohio, vs. #202 Bowling Green, vs. #120 Buffalo
Losses
12/3/2005 Away L 75-89 vs. #47 California
12/10/2005 Away L 85-111 vs. #46 Louisville
12/21/2005 Neut L 59-66 vs. #73 Clemson
These games are all losses to top 100 teams BUT something to strongly consider is that they were very early in the year (just about 2 months ago for those games)I think the losses below are more to how the team has been playing since developing some character.
1/24/2006 Away L 63-66 vs. #107 Ohio
2/4/2006 Away L 57-63 vs. #74 Kent
In my estimations Kent is a consistently strong team this year and that was a 6pt loss on the road. Ohio was a 3 point loss
Nevada #45:
Wins:
#170 Sacramento, #243 Vermont, #97 Unlv , #25 Kansas , #103 Pacific, #271 UC Davis, #65 Georgia , #291 Norfolk St, #186 Ul Lafayette, #241 San Jose St, #297 Idaho, #151 Boise St, #100 Hawaii, 65-53 vs. #106 Louisiana (twice), #142 New Mexico
**Note: Those very nice wins against UNLV, KANSAS, PACIFIC, GEORGIA.. all fell between 11/26/05 and 12/21/05... So that some quality wins but were some time ago (over a month).
Losses:
12/10/2005 Neut L 56-67 vs. #23 UCLA
12/31/2005 Away L 80-89 vs. #127 St Marys CA
1/5/2006 Away L 69-73 vs. #100 Hawaii
1/18/2006 Away L 77-87 vs. #132 Fresno St
1/23/2006 Home L 53-59 vs. #75 Utah St
Losses against top 150 schools
Record : 1-1
Streak : L1 (last 2 picks: AZ +3, FL -2)
Last 10: 1-1
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Today's Play: Akron Zips (19-5, 12-2(Home: 7-0, Away: 5-2)) +7 @ Nevada Wolfpack (19-5, 9-3)
Notes on Akron
• Akron is looking for its first 20-win season since 1988-89 (21-8).
• Akron is tied for the lead in the MAC East Division with Kent State.
• Akron is receiving votes in both of this week’s national polls. The Zips had eight votes in The Associated Press Top 25 and one tally in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25. UA is also ranked 12th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, in which coaches vote.
• The Zips are 8-5 in games played outside of Akron this season (6-4 road/2-1 neutral). UA’s four road losses came against Cal (Dec. 3), top-25 ranked Louisville (Dec. 10), Ohio (Jan. 24) and Kent State (Feb. 4). The team’s neutral loss came to Clemson (Dec. 21) in the title game of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
• Center Rob Preston was named MAC East Division player of the week on Monday. He averaged 15 points and 4.5 rebounds in last week’s two wins.
• Akron’s 19-5 record is its best start in the Division I era (1980-81). This will be the Zips’ second-consecutive winning season and 11th in DI history.
• UA leads the MAC in five categories – scoring (74.3 ppg), scoring margin (+10.1), assists (16.5), assist-turnover ratio (1.3) and 3-pointers made (8.1 per game).
• The Zips rank among the national leaders in assists (16.5) and fewest turnovers (12.4) per game, however, the squad has had more turnovers than assists in the last three games.
• UA’s 3-pointers made per game (8.1) also rank high nationally. The Zips have hit eight or more treys in a game 14 times this season.
• Guard Dru Joyce accounts for 116 (4.8 apg) of Akron’s 396 assists, and 62 of its 297 turnovers. He is second in the MAC in assists and first in assistturnover ratio (1.9), and his 10.4 ppg rank third on the team. His 311 career assists list him fifth all-time in program history, but he had no assists for the first time in 59 games against Bowling Green on Tuesday.
• Forward Romeo Travis leads UA and ranks in the top 10 in the league in scoring (13.8 ppg/10th in MAC), rebounding (6.4 rpg/eighth in MAC) and field goals (51 percent/10th in MAC). He tallied his ninth career double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) on Tuesday against Bowling Green
• UA uses a 10-man rotation, with eight of those averaging at least 13 minutes.
• Over the last three games Akron’s bench has outscored its opponents 104-59.
• The Zips have shot 50 percent or better from the field in two of their last three games, bucking the trend on Tuesday against Bowling Green (41.1 percent/23-of-56).
• Akron has out-rebounded three-straight and four of its last six opponents.
• UAhas not lost consecutive games this season.
• Akron swept play against MAC West Division teams this season, going 8-0 against those foes.
Leaders of the Zips
The Zips are led by junior forward Romeo Travis (6-7, 220) who is averaging 13.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Nick Dials (6-1,175), a transfer from Ohio State, has turned in 10.8 points per game, while junior guard Dru Joyce (6-0, 165) is averaging 10.4 ppg. Joyce has knocked down 46.2 percent of his three-point attempts (43-93), while Dials has made
a team-best 46 treys and is shooting 38.3 percent from beyond the arc. As a team, Akron ranks in the top 50 in the nation in both three-point field goal percentage (37.1 percent) and threepointers per game (8.1).
On The Line Vs. Nevada...
• An Akron victory would give it 20 wins in a season for the first time since 1988-89 (21-8).
• An Akron victory would extending its best-ever start in the Division I era.
• An Akron victory would be its fourth-straight, and seventh in eight games.
For full-game by game, player by player, in depth game-notes, I have provided this PDF file. (33 pages)
Nevada Wolfpack Notes
Following a 50-49 come-from-behind victory over Louisiana Tech on Monday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack (19-5, 9-3 WAC) takes a break from conference action to play host to Mid-American Conference East Division leader Akron (19-5, 12-2 MAC) on Friday night in the BracketBusters presented by eBay. Friday’s contest, which ends Nevada’s three-game homestand, will tip off at 6:04 p.m. Pacific at Lawlor Events Center and will be broadcast to a national television audience by ESPNU. With Monday night’s victory over La Tech, the Wolf Pack has moved into sole possession of first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings with two weeks to go in the regular season.
Nevada has won six consecutive games, which ties for the team’s longest winning streak of the year, and is currently the longest active streak in the WAC. Nevada holds an 11-1 record at Lawlor Events Center this year and looks to win its fourth straight home game Friday against the Zips.
IN THE SERIES
Friday will mark the first meeting between Nevada and Akron, while the Wolf Pack holds a 2-1 all-time record against teams from the Mid-American Conference. The team’s last meetings with a MAC team came in the BracketBusters event as well. Nevada turned in a 60-58 win over Toledo
on Feb. 21, 2004 in Reno but dropped the return game with an 83-75 loss on Dec. 7, 2004 in Toledo.
NEVADA IN BRACKETBUSTERS
This year will mark Nevada's third appearance in the BracketBusters presented by event, which was created in 2003 in conjunction with the Western Athletic Conference, and several other top college basketball conferences to match potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other. Last season, the Wolf Pack turned in a 74-64 victory over on Feb. 19, 2005 in Reno, while in 2004, Nevada edged Toledo 60-58 on Feb. 21 in Reno. As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Nevada will play at Akron in 2006-07.
NOTES FROM NEVADA’S CURRENT SIX-GAME WINNING STREAK
The Wolf Pack has won six consecutive games, which matches the team’s longest winning streak of the year... the Wolf Pack also opened this season with six straight victories... that seasonopening six-game streak included four road wins (at Vermont, UNLV, Kansas and Pacific), while Nevada’s current streak features three (at Boise State, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State)...another victory would give the team its longest streak since winning 10 straight at the
end of the regular season last year (nine straight WAC games and a BracketBuster matchup with Vermont)...five players have averaged at least eight points per game in the last six victories (Fazekas-23.2 ppg, Kemp 14.2, Shiloh 9.8, Johnson 8.7 and Charlo 8.2)... Nevada is averaging 74.2 points per game in those five wins (up from season average of 71.7 ppg) and has turned in
three of its top five scoring efforts of the season, including a season-high 90 points in its Feb. 4 win at New Mexico State...the Wolf Pack has shot 46.5 percent from the field and has outrebounding its opponents by 5.0 rebounds per tilt in the six-game stretch (35.8 to 30.8 rpg)...Nevada has also held teams to 63.3 points per game and just 28.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc (26-90) during the win streak.
NEVADA’S 20-WIN SEASONS
With the team’s next victory, Nevada will notch its third consecutive 20-win season and the eighth in school history. Last season, the Wolf Pack turned in back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. One year ago, the Wolf Pack won its 20th game of the season on Feb. 19 vs. Vermont in ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday. Last season, Mark Fox became the first Wolf Pack head coach to win 20+ games in his first year at Nevada and the seventh different Nevada mentor to reach the 20-win plateau.
Tough Defense
In its last 11 home games, Nevada has allowed its opponents to score just 55.5 points per contest (611 points). On Jan. 23, Nevada held Utah State (then the league’s leading scorer) to the Aggies’ season low-tying 59 points. The loss snapped the Wolf Pack’s streak of 33 straight victories when holding its opponent to 60 points or less, including 17 wins last season and the
first five this year. Including its two wins over La Tech, Nevada has now won 36 of its last 37 games when holding a team to 60 points or less.
The Wolf Pack holds a 15-2 record when outrebounding its opponents this season. The team outboarded WAC rebounding leader Louisiana Tech in both meetings, including a 45-37 advantage over La Tech on Thursday night and a 40-39 edge in Ruston on Feb. 2. The Bulldogs continue to lead the league with 40.3 rebounds per game and are allowing opponents just 34.0 boards per contest.
Last Important thing about NEVADA
Including an 11-1 mark this season, the Wolf Pack has turned in a 39-5 record at home since the start of the 2003-04 season (.886). Nevada was a perfect 15-0 at Lawlor Events Center in 2003-04 and turned in a 13-4 record at home last season. The Wolf Pack has won 72.7 percent of its games at Lawlor Events Center since the arena opened in 1983-84 (242-91 all-time record).
BUT.......
?? Nevada has turned in an 11-4 record in games decided by 10 points or less this season (3-1 in games decided by five or less), most recently defeating Louisiana Tech 50-49 on Monday night. The Wolf Pack has won eight of its last 11 close contests. The Wolf Pack is no stranger to close games, winning 14 of 18 decided by 10 points or less last year.
SO TO WRAP IT UP...
AKRON is a team that passes the ball great (16.5 assists to 12 turnovers a game) which just might be the potion for Nevada's defense. The Zips rebound the ball very well also and have a deep bench. Akron will be much tougher competition than LA TECH and Nevada has been squeaking by LA TECH 50-49 (trailing 36-27 @ half) . If they come out flat against the Zips, Nevada will have a much tougher time catching up. The depth of the bench will most likely help the Zips in this contest, especially taking the altitude into account. I like Akron's chances at winning this game straight up and I especially like taking 3 and a half baskets. Zips +7 in this game.
Goodluck with your decision
Akron #54:
Wins
#249 Youngstown, #306 Duquesne, #256 Mt St Marys, #115 Mississipp, #152 Wright St, #184 Ball St, #141 Toledo, #159 Western Mich (twice), #125 Northern Ill, #294 Central Mich, #267 Eastern Mich (twice), W 52-45 vs. #83 Miami Ohio, vs. #202 Bowling Green, vs. #120 Buffalo
Losses
12/3/2005 Away L 75-89 vs. #47 California
12/10/2005 Away L 85-111 vs. #46 Louisville
12/21/2005 Neut L 59-66 vs. #73 Clemson
These games are all losses to top 100 teams BUT something to strongly consider is that they were very early in the year (just about 2 months ago for those games)I think the losses below are more to how the team has been playing since developing some character.
1/24/2006 Away L 63-66 vs. #107 Ohio
2/4/2006 Away L 57-63 vs. #74 Kent
In my estimations Kent is a consistently strong team this year and that was a 6pt loss on the road. Ohio was a 3 point loss
Nevada #45:
Wins:
#170 Sacramento, #243 Vermont, #97 Unlv , #25 Kansas , #103 Pacific, #271 UC Davis, #65 Georgia , #291 Norfolk St, #186 Ul Lafayette, #241 San Jose St, #297 Idaho, #151 Boise St, #100 Hawaii, 65-53 vs. #106 Louisiana (twice), #142 New Mexico
**Note: Those very nice wins against UNLV, KANSAS, PACIFIC, GEORGIA.. all fell between 11/26/05 and 12/21/05... So that some quality wins but were some time ago (over a month).
Losses:
12/10/2005 Neut L 56-67 vs. #23 UCLA
12/31/2005 Away L 80-89 vs. #127 St Marys CA
1/5/2006 Away L 69-73 vs. #100 Hawaii
1/18/2006 Away L 77-87 vs. #132 Fresno St
1/23/2006 Home L 53-59 vs. #75 Utah St
Losses against top 150 schools
posted by Jeffrey Gardner at 1:18 AM
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