UofAZIPS.com Blog

ZipsWire-Akron Domination of BGSU Continues

February 16th, 2008
by Don Olson

WHO’D A THUNK IT? ZIPS WIN BY MAKING FREE THROWS

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — Nate Linhart, Cedrick Middleton and Nick Dials each scored 14 points and Akron used its pressure defense to force 18 turnovers in a 65-56 victory over Bowling Green on Saturday.Linhart and Middleton each hit two 3-pointers and Dials had the other as the Zips (18-7, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) overcame a rebounding differential to beat the Falcons (11-13, 6-6).Dials hit all seven of his free throws to lead the Zips (18-7, 8-4 Mid-American Conference) to a seven-point advantage at the line.

Akron was 18 of 24 to Bowling Green’s 11 of 22.Chris McKnight added 10 points for the Zips, who turned Bowling Green turnovers into 26 points.Brian Moten had 15 points, Nate Miller 13 and Chris Knight 12 for the Falcons, who trailed 31-26 at the half before coming back to grab a three-point lead with 7:26 remaining. The Zips, however, took advantage of the Falcons’ mistakes while hitting free throws down the stretch.

ZIPS STIFLE FALCON…The Plain Dealer

CRUCIAL SCORES PROPEL AKRON…Akron Beacon Journal

AKRON DEFEATS BG MEN…Bowling Green Sentinel

FREE THROW SHOOTING HELPS ZIPS PAST FALCONS…GoZips.com

ZIPS CLIP THE FALCONS 65-56 ON THE ROAD…UofAZips.com

ZIPS HOLD OFF FALCONS…BGSU Athletics

Akron-BG Box Score

Play-by-play

What the other guys are saying about the game…Ay Ziggy Zoomba

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JUNIOR LINHART UNIQUE FOR ZIPS…Akron Beacon Journal

PLAYER OF THE YEAR TOSS UP IN THE MAC…The Plain Dealer

Around the Mid-American Conference

Kent State beats OU to win 21st game….

Eastern edges Central…

Complete MAC Scoreboard

Game Write ups on MAC Web site

MAC Standings

MAC Basketball Mid-Season Report…MACReportOnline.com

MAC TOURNAMENT INFO

Contact Don Olson at: donolson160@yahoo.com

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Northern Illinois University

February 15th, 2008
by Don Olson

Our thoughts and prayers are with our MAC brothers and sisters of Northern Illinois University.

Today, everyone is a Huskie!

Northern Illinois University

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ZipsWire-Former Zips Super Bowl Champions!

February 5th, 2008
by Don Olson

HIXON, BLACKBURN WIN IT ALL!

Congratulations to former University of Akron Zips Domenik Hixon and Chase Blackburn, members of the World Champion New York Giants.

Above, Hixon raises the Vince Lombardi trophy in the post-game celebration at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Remember back to the days when the chances of a Zip being on an NFL roster were about the same as Kent State winning a football championship?

If memory serves, Akron running back James Black was the first to make a regular-season roster with the Cleveland Browns. Black played on special teams. My first memory of an Akron Zip ever in the NFL was tight end Chris Kelly, who played for the Browns during the strike season of 1987. I don’t believe Kelly ever played on a regular-season NFL roster.

Since then, our fortunes have changed. The Zips have a respectable showing on the rosters of NFL teams.

Here’s a list (no doubt incomplete) of Zips currently playing in the NFL:

Domenik Hixton, New York Giants

Chase Blackburn, New York Giants

Jason Taylor, Miami Dolphins

Charlie Frye, Seattle Seahawks

Victor Green, New York Jets

Dwight Smith Minnesota Vikings

Smith, to the best of my knowledge, was the first Zips to play in the Super Bowl, for the Tampa Bay Bucs..intercepting two passes, returning one for a touchdown.

An article on GoZips.com reflects on our new Super Bowl Champions and links to articles about them.

ZIPS ARE SUPER…GoZips.com

(thanks to Jeramiah Dickey and Mike Cawood of UA Athletics for passing on the photo of Hixon from Getty images)

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ZIPS HOLD STEADY IN MID-MAJOR POLL

The Zippers hold steady at #10 in this week’s Mid-Major Top 25. The Flushes of Can’t State are right behind Akron at #11, dropping from the #7 position the week before after their glorious loss at Toledo. The OU Snobkittens are the only other MAC team on the poll, checking in at #14, up from 21 the previous week.

‘WE NEED TO TURN IT UP A NOTCH…,’ DAMBROT SAYS

In his weekly news conference, Akron Head Coach Keith Dambrot reflects on the performance of the Zips thus far in conference play, saying, “…things could go better for us, but at least we’re winning.”

ZIPS, FLASHES GAIN CHANCES TO BUST OUT…The Akron Beacon Journal

ZIPS WILL FACE VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH IN BRACKET BUSTER…Mike Rasor on the Zips

MENS BASKETBALL TO FACT VCU IN BRACKETBUSTERS…GoZips.com

BALL ABOVE ALL…Vincent Dorsey of The Buchtelite profiles Zips freshman guard Steve McNees.

Contact Don Olson at: donolson160@yahoo.com

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ZipsWire-Akron Downs Eastern Michigan

February 3rd, 2008
by Don Olson

HOME WINNING STREAK CONTINUES

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron men’s basketball team secured its 22nd-consecutive home victory with an 80-61 defeat of Easter Michigan on Saturday night at Rhodes Arena in front of a crowd of 4,301 fans.The Zips (16-5, 6-2 Mid-American Conference) have now won six of their last eight games and improved to 12-0 at home this season, moving into a three-way tie with Kent State and Ohio atop the Mid-American Conference’s East Division. Akron’s home win streak is the fifth-longest of its kind in the nation. Tennessee is fourth on that list with 27-straight home victories.Nate Linhart led a balanced scoring attack for UA, turning in his eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season in pacing the Zips with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting (2-of-5 3-pointers). For the game, his team connected on 44.4 percent (24-of-54) of its shots from the floor, goig 12-of-26 (57.7 percent) from 3-point range. Akron has now made eight or more treys in a game 16 times this season.

Jeremiah Wood (10 points, 11 rebounds) recorded his fifth double-double of the season and the 17th of his career. The 6-foot-6 senior forward became the 34th player in school history to amass 1,000 points for his collegiate career with his free throw at the 2:11 mark of the first half. Nick Dials (10 points) also reached double figures, leading the Zips with a game-high seven assists. Redshirt freshman center Mike Bardo added seven points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in just his second start of the season.

For the Zips, it was their sixth-straight win over Eastern Michigan (7-13, 3-5). The Eagles were paced by Tyler Jones, who led all scorers with a career-high 17 points on 4-of 9 shooting from behind the arc.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Dials and Linhart gave the Zips their first double-digit lead of the contest, 44-32, as UA would outscore EMU, 20-4, over a 6:46 span to begin the second half. Linhart would later put an exclamation point on the win with a breakaway slam dunk following a steal at mid-court, extending the lead to 68-45 with 7:52 remaining.

After trailing 23-16, Akron would embark on a 18-7 run in the final 7:59 of the first half, en route to a 34-30 halftime advantage. That spurt was capped by Cedrick Middleton’s jumper from behind the arc as time expired heading into intermission. The lead changed hands seven times and there were five ties during the first 20 minutes of play.

UA has now won 43 of its last 44 home contests, and has compiled a 52-2 record at Rhodes Arena in head coach Keith Dambrot’s four seasons at the helm. Saturday’s win also marked the 25th-consecutive conference victory at home for the Zips, dating back to the 2004-05 season.

The Zips return to action on Wednesday when they travel to MAC West Division leader Western Michigan. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. EST, and the contest will be televised on Comcast Local. Akron will host Northern Illinois in its next game at Rhodes Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 12. That game will be televised on FSN Ohio, with tip-off scheduled for 8 p.m.

ZIPS’ RISE CONTINUE WITH VICTORY…The Akron Beacon Journal

EASTERN MICHIGAN RUNNING GAME NOTES…from Mike Rasor
ZIPS MOVE INTO TIE FOR EAST LEAD...The Plain Dealer

Post-Game Notes

Post-Game Quotes

Box Score

Contact Don Olson at: donolson160@yahoo.com

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