by Commissioner » Sat Dec 01, 2018 10:09 am
[font size="4"]Akron![/font]
When: Saturday, December 1, 5:00 p.m.
Where: Akron, Ohio
TV: ESPN 3
Radio: AM 910 Superstation
The Titans, coming off a disappointing loss to Kent State, face Akron in a non-conference game on Saturday. Let's face it--the Titans blew it on Wednesday, when we had a good Kent State team on the ropes. Hopefully, it's a worthwhile lesson. Hopefully, we will start replacing such lessons with wins.
Akron has, like it's local rival Kent State, become one of the most solid, year-in, year-out programs in the MAC. Under Coach Keith Dambrot, the Zips had 13 straight seasons of 19 or more wins, the last 12 of those 21 or more wins. Dambrot took several of their better players when he went to Duquesne after the 2017 season, and under former Illinois coach John Groce, the Zips fell to 14-18 last year. But they may be back, entering Friday with a 5-2 mark. I say "may" because it's a most unimpressive list of wins: D-II Cedarville, Horizon doormat Youngstown State, Division I doormat Chicago State, SWAC doormat Alabama State, and a struggling 1-6 St. Bonaventure squad. All at home or on neutral floors. On the other hand, they've won those 5 games by an average of 27 points. Their losses--to MVC favorite Illinois State (by 5 on a neutral floor) and Clemson (by 3 on a neutral floor)--may be more impressive than their wins.
It looks like the Zips will play this one without their 6-10 center, Deng Riak. Riak appears to have reinjured his shoulder, an problem that kept him out of most of the 2016 season, and caused him to miss all of Akron's last game, against Alabama State. I can't find any update on his status, but while it always hurts to lose a starter, he's not the key guy on this team. Riak had been averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in a bit over 20 minutes per game.
Assuming Riak is out, Akron's starters look like this:
PG: Loren Jackson, 5-8 RS Soph. (13.6 ppg, 3.9 apg, 34.0% 3PtFG)
SG: Jimond Ivey, 6-4 RS Sr. (11.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 3.0 apg)
G: Channel Banks, 6-4 Jr. (9.0 ppg, 40.6% 3PtFG)
F: Daniel Utomi, 6-6 RS Jr. (14.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 35.7% 3Pt FG)
F: Jaden Sayles, 6-9 Soph (2.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg).
Sayles started the Alabama State game, but before then he was neither playing nor producing much, and he played just 18 minutes in that romp. He's also said to be soft in the lane. So it's quite possible Groce will go with some else. That else would likely be my favorite name on the Akron roster, 6-5 junior Tyler Cheese, who had 19 points and 5 assists against Alabama State, and averages 10.0 ppg. Whether he starts or not, he'll play starter minutes. Other key bench players include Jeremy Roscoe, a 6-2 junior guard (3.3 ppg) and Emma Olojakpoke, a 6-8 junior forward (3.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg). Olojakpoke might start if Groce wanted try someone other than Sayles but stay with a bigger lineup.
The Titans are 4-5 all-time against Akron. We played the Zips 4 straight years from 2011 through 2014, with Akron taking 3 of 4. Before that you go back to a 1992 season match up that the Titans won, 55-54, in a tournament in Hawaii.
Akron was picked to finish 5th in the MAC East this year, two spots below Kent State. This is a winnable road game, but it will be a tough game, and as the Titans hopefully learned on Wednesday, we lack the raw talent to afford mental lapses and even short energy lags of the type that cost us the Kent game. It might tickle Titan fans, though, that the Akron forum seems kind of excited to welcome the Titans--"At last, a decent team, the Detroit Mercy Titans, comes to the JAR" reads one post. And of course, Antoine and his 30 ppg scoring average is generating some buzz. It's nice to be a desirable road attraction again.
Go Titans!
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