Akron

Three Stars of the Day: Witter, Dials, Shaw

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:58:40 -0700

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Cavel Witter - Creighton

Hit the game-winning three with 3.2 seconds left as the Bluejays came back from a big half-time deficit

Nick Dials - Akron

Scored 13 of his 21 points in OT, as the Zips upset FSU on the road

Matt Shaw - Southern Illinois

Scored 21 points and added 9 boards in an easy win over OK State in the NIT

Other Top Performers

James Harden - Arizona State - Had a great line of 25 points and 13 boards, but it was against Alabama State

Rob McKiver - Houston - Scored 22 points as the Cougars opened the CBI with a win

Previous Stars of the Day

March 15th - Joe Alexander, WVU

March 11th - Jeremy Evans, WKU

March 10th - Kevin Kanaskie, MTSU

March 9th - Brandon Johnson, San Diego

March 5th - Marquis Weddle, UTM

March 4th - Joe Alexander, WVU

March 3rd - Kevin Love, UCLA

March 2nd - Tyrese Rice, BC

2008 NIT Capsule: Akron

Joel Welser — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:59:36 -0700

Akron Zips

Mid-American Conference (23-10, 11-5)

Seed: #6

RPI: 69

Big Wins: 11/26 Temple (67-65), 12/15 at Austin Peay (64-55), 3/4 at Ohio (80-77)

Bad Losses: 1/26 at Central Michigan (64-65), 2/6 at Western Michigan (66-86), 2/12 Northern Illinois (78-88)

Coach: Keith Dambrot

Probable Starters:

Nick Dials, Senior, Guard, 11.9 ppg, 4.3 apg

Cedrick Middleton, Senior, Guard, 9.7 ppg, 1.5 apg

Nate Linhart, Junior, Forward, 8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Jeremiah Wood, Senior, Forward, 13.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg

Chris McKnight, Sophomore, Forward, 6.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Key Roleplayers:

Steve McNees, Freshman, Guard, 5.4 ppg, 1.9 apg

Darryl Roberts, Sophomore, Guard, 3.9 ppg

Jimmy Conyers, Junior, Forward, 2.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg

Quade Milum, Senior, Forward, 6.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg

Why They Can Surprise:

The Zips of Akron hit over eight three-pointers per game. Senior Nick Dials knocks down over two of those. The point guard has become a little one-dimensional in his offensive game since six of his eight shots per contest come from long range, but he will drive to the basket and get to the free-throw line enough to make the opposing defense have to cover him off the dribble.

Fellow starters Cedrick Middleton and Nate Linhart and sixth man Steve McNeese can all get hot from long range. Middleton is the guy who will penetrate and score, but he will compliment that ability quite well with his consistent outside shooting. At 6-7, Linhart has great size for a wing in the Mid-American Conference. His versatility allows him to play just about anywhere on the floor and Linhart has a smooth left-handed stroke from outside. McNeese will usually be the first guard off the bench and the freshman does a decent job handling the ball when he is not hitting the long ball.

Why They Can Disappoint:

Despite the nice size on the wing with Linhart, the Zips are not a big team. The frontline consists of 6-6 Jeremiah Wood, 6-7 Chris McKnight and 6-7 Quade Milum. That is not horrible by MAC standards, but the lack of height has led to some problems in the rebounding department. Wood is a great scorer, a superb rebounder and will never back down from bigger opponents. A team full of players like him and Akron would be great on the glass, but Wood does not get much help. Milum and McKnight split minutes, which hurts their numbers, but they combine for just over six rebounds per contest. Akron did not play very many tough, bigger teams during their non-conference play, so if they run into a big team, the troubles on the glass could get worse.

Who To Watch:

If Akron is going to make any postseason run, it will be on the shoulders of Wood and Dials. Wood has had some injury problems throughout his career, but when he is healthy he is tough to stop. On some days, the only way to stop him is to foul him and that theory is not a bad one to follow. Wood shoots just 56.8 percent from the charity stripe and when he is feeling it, the opposition will have no choice but to be physical with Wood on both sides of the floor.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 71.7 (119^th in nation, 1^st in conference)

Scoring Defense: 63.5 (61, 3)

Field-Goal Percentage: 44.4 (151, 4)

Field-Goal Defense: 44.5 (213, 6)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.5 (30, 1)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.8 (31, 1)

Free-Throw Percentage: 71.8 (89, 4)

Rebound Margin: -0.4 (194, 8)

Assists Per Game: 13.6 (143, 3)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (64, 3)

Joel’s Bracket Says: First Round loss to Florida State

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MAC Championship: Kent State Dominates Akron

Joel Welser — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:47:01 -0700

Cleveland, OH - It came down to two near-by rivals and a packed Quicken Loans Arena in the Mid-American Conference Championship but in the end the No. I seed pounded the No. 3 seed as Kent State cruised by Akron 74-55.

Kent State (28-6) was the dominant team in the MAC this year and the Golden Flashes dominated Akron by almost every measure.

They out-shot Akron (23-10) from the field 50.9 percent (27-53) to 30.8 percent (18-52) and from the foul line 88.9 percent (16-18) to 54.3 percent (18-33). Both teams shot poorly from 3-point land but the Golden Flashes won that one too 33 percent (4-12) to 27.7 percent (5-22). Kent State also out-rebounded the Zips 36-27.

This year Kent State won the East Division title, they had the player of the year, the coach of the year and the best defensive player, Haminn Quaintance who was chosen tournament MVP. Tonight he scored 16 points, pulled down six rebounds and had a blocked shot.

Cleveland State has an RPI of 21 and most likely would have been in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happened tonight. This game was probably for seeding purposes and the Golden Flashes made their case in convincing fashion.

As for the Zips for the second straight year they saw their Big Dance dreams shattered as they again lost in the championship game. Last year it was a buzzer-beater by Miami’s Doug Penno that sunk them.

It was a relatively tight game until Akron hit a dry spell toward the end of the first half that allowed Kent State to close out the first half on a 16-1 run that sent the Zips into the locker room at halftime down 13 points at 33-20.

A dry spell is putting it mildly. Akron went the final 7:46 without scoring missing their last nine shots and three free throws to end the half.

Akron coach Keith Dambrot thought that his team’s poor shooting hurt them at the other end of the court. “I think our offensive performance affected our defense. I think we got inside on them better than we ever have . We got it at point-blank range, we just couldn’t make it, which is difficult.”

“We just wanted to put pressure on the ball and give them a hard time getting into their offensive sets. We wanted them to chance what they wanted to do,” explained Kent State player Al Fisher.

In the second half Akron did make a run cutting the Kent State lead to 10 points at 51-41 at the 8:20 mark on a basket by Nate Linhart. Kent State’s Mike Scott responded by making a jump shot. Right after that he was intentionally fouled on a steal play. He sunk both foul shots.

Then Kent State’s Chris Singletary converted a 3-point play, but was knocked down after making the final foul shot by Linhart who backed into him.

Kent State coach Jim Christian had some choice words for Linhart after everyone got untangled.

“Singletary is a key person for us when putting pressure on the ball because he is so strong. That was a key for us to have an option like him to go to,” said Christian.

When the final horn sounded Fisher, the MAC Player of the Year, provided an exclamation point on a good night by doing a back flip in front of the Kent State bench.

Notes:

-LeBron James of the Cavalier and Akron’s most famous native son was in attendance for tonight’s game.

-Tonight’s meeting was the 125 meeting between the two programs. Kent leads the all-time series 65-60. Akron won last year’s three games and Kent won this year’s three games.

-This is the seventh time in the past 11 years tht Kent has played in the MAC Championship game. Kent has won five of those seven games.

The All-Tournament Team

-Joe Reitz, Western Michigan
-Jeremiah Wood, Akron
-Al Fisher, Kent State
-Mike Scott, Kent State
-Haminn Quaintance, Kent State

MAC Semifinals Review: Akron to Face Kent St

Bill Kintner — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:41:10 -0700

CLEVELAND – For second time in two days Akron has exacted some revenge against teams that beat them earlier in the season.

Tonight it was Western Michigan that felt the revenge wrath of the Zips as they fell to Akron 73-62.

In a game where Akron (23-9) consistently led and led by double digits starting at the end of the first half It came down to the Zips’ strong shooting performance.

Akron shot a blazing 58.7 percent (27-46) from the field versus 44.7 percent (21-47) for Western Michigan (20-12).

“I think we were able to shoot the ball well. One of the things coach emphasized was sharing the ball. I feel we didn’t run as many plays as we have because we were able to pass the ball around,” said Akron’s Chris Knight.

Akron coach Keith Dambrot thought his team turned up the intensity to pull out the win.

“We matched their intensity,” Dambrot said with a smile after the game.

Another key for the Zips was containing Western Michigan’s David Kool, who scored 24 points in yesterday’s win against Eastern Michigan. Akron managed to hold him under 50 percent (6-13) for the game, although he still got 17 points.

“We used a variety of people (on Kool), mostly (Nate) Linhart, who is very long. I thought the length bothered him,” explained Dambrot. “He gets a lot of points around the rim and at the line. I think Linhart gave him a little more trouble than he’s used to.”

The game started out with Akron’s Cedrick Middleton hitting a 3-pointer at the 19:37 mark and the Zips never trailed in the game. Akron finally pushed the lead out to double digits at the 6:32 mark when Chris Mc Knight put in a layup to make it 25-15.

By the half Akron pushed their lead to 13 points at 37-24.

In the second half the Broncos didn’t cut Akron’s lead to single digits until the 1:31 mark when Kool hit a 3-pointer to make it 67-59 but the Zips pushed the lead back to 11 by the end of the game, 73-62.

“They shot lights out. It was just too much for us to overcome. Said Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins. “We showed a lot of fight in the second half, but every time we came back they hit big shots.”

Game Two: Miami vs Kent State

Does history repeat itself? Miami attempted to answer that question in the semifinals against Kent State.

With :02 left Miami inbounded the ball in front of their bench they got the ball to their ace, Tim Politz. He got it in the lane, about five feet from the basket, he twisted shot it and it bounced off the rim, and Kent State won 49-47.

It was just a year ago that Doug Penno hit the game winner against Akron as time expired to punch Miami’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

But tonight it was not to be for Miami.

With :34 remaining in the game Miami’s Kenny Hayes put in a layup to tie the game 47-47.

After a Kent State (27-6) timeout they began working the ball around the perimeter and they finally got it to Al Fisher. He drove down the lane spun to his right and shot a floater over the out-stretched hand of Tyler Dierkers to put Kent State up 49-47 and that was stake the landed in Miami’s heart.

Fisher said he just was looking to get any shot when he got the game winner. “We were just looking to get a shot up. It’s easier when your coach and teammates have a lot of trust in you. It takes off a lot of the pressure.”
Miami actually out-shot Kent State 42.2 percent (19-45) to 35.8 percent (19-53) but Kent State coach Jim Christian thought it was experience and maintaining intensity that did the trick.

“We’ve been in many of these situations before. We’ve won many close games,” he said. “There is something to be said of the will to win. You have to be intense the whole time.”

Miami (17-15) scored the first basket a little over two minutes into the game on a layup by Hayes to go up 2-0. Aside from a brief one point lead a little over two minutes later Kent State led the whole first half and went into halftime up 25-23.

The second half was more back and forth with the biggest lead being four by the Golden Flashes at the 4:25 mark on a jumper by Rodriquez Sherman.

This game was tied 12 times and there were nine lead changes.

A tired acting Miami coach Jermaine Henderson thought his team played hard and just came up short.

“I think we played hard and leave it all out there” he said after the game. The right guy got a shot off but it came up a little short.”

Notes:

-I mentioned yesterday that Keith Dambrot is a great coach; he is also entertaining to watch during the game. His favorite position on the sidelines is bent over with his hands on his knees; with his tie hanging down like an outfielder waiting for the pitch to be delivered. Sometimes he runs the length of the bench clapping his hands. Bottom line, if you take a look over at the Akron bench there is a good chance Drambot will entertain you.

-Yesterday I ranked Ohio’s dance team as the best looking team in the MAC. Upon further review I would rank Western Michigan’s as number two and Akron’s as number three. There you have it the MAC Hot Dance Team rankings.

-Former Miami great and current Cleveland Cavalier Wally Szczerbiak was in attendance for the Miami/Kent State game sitting in the front row across from the Miami bench.

-The clock crew has had a tough tournament. They have consistently screwed up starting and stopping the clock at the proper time. I hope this is not the crew that works the clock for the Cavs games.

Live From the MAC Tournament: Quaterfinals

Bill Kintner — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:25:16 -0700

CLEVELAND – With four quarterfinals games today I am just going to get the highlights of the games and try to give fans a flavor for what is going.

Game One: WMU vs EMU

Led by David Kool’s 24 points No. 2 seed Western Michigan (20-11) beat No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan (14-17). In a game that Eastern Michigan never led, they did make it interesting when at the 10:34 mark they tied the game at 34-34 when Jarrad Axon made two foul shots, but that was a fleeting moment of joy as the Broncos closed it out to end Eastern Michigan’s season.
Fav quote:

“We weren’t talking well on defense and they are a great shooting team. With this being their first game of the tournament, we knew they were going to be pumped up and ready to go and we did not match their intensity and that hurt us in the long run.”
EMU guard Travis Lewis.

-This is WSM’s first trip to the semifinals since 2005.

-The crowd for this game was rather meager considering that Michigan leads the country in unemployment. With all that free time you would think more of them would be here watching two Michigan teams play.

-WMU leads the all-time series with EMU 49-44.

-Western Michigan plays Akron at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Game Two: Akron vs CMU

Akron the No. 3 seed stayed true to form and whipped up on the No. 6 seed Central Michigan 81-60. This game was close for the first 23 minutes before the Zips opened up a double digit lead at the 16:42 mark. Akron’s Jeremiah Wood led all scorers with 17 points. Akron (22-9) shot 56 percent (28-50) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-17) from beyond the 3-point line. Central Michigan (14-17) shot just 34.5 percent (20-58).

Fav quote:

“Today it was, ‘I just want to play basketball.’ Whatever I could do I wanted to do. We are in the part of the season where every game can be your last and I just wanted to leave everything out there.”

You thought the quote was going to be Akron coach Keith Dambrot and nine times out of 10 it usually is, just not today.

-Akron leads the all-time series with CMU 23-13.

-Akron plays Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Game Three: Kent State vs Toledo

No. 1 seed Kent State pounded No. 8 seed Toledo into submission 77-54. The first half was relatively close with Toledo (11-19) getting their biggest lead at three at 7-4 at the 16:42 mark. At halftime Kent State (26-6) led 39-29. In the second Kent just enlarged their lead as they were led by Mike Scott’s 23 points.

Fav Quote:

“On the court we do not think we should get any fouls. The officials made a few calls we did not necessarily agree with and the calls gave us a disadvantage and took away from us being aggressive.”
Toledo forward Jerrah Young.

-Kent State had a nice crowd at the game and they made a lot of noise.

-Toledo leads the all-time series with Kent 78-41.

-Kent State plays Miami at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night.

Game Four: Miami vs Ohio

A typical Miami/Ohio game that No. 5 seed Miami pulled out over No.4 seed Ohio 74-61. The game was a lot tighter than the score indicates. Miami (17-14) was led by Michael Bramos’ 23 points and after getting pounded on the boards by 19 in their last game, the RedHawks out-rebounded the Bobcats 42-31. With 2:10 left it was still a close game with Miami clinging to a four point lead at 63-59. Ohio would score just one more basketball in the game.

Fav quote:

“I think we won with our guards and we got solid contributions from everybody on the boards. Last night we got out-rebounded by 19 so to come back to night and go plus 11 was a big thing.”
Miami forward Tyler Dierkers

-Ohio leads the all-time series with Miami 93-88.

-Miami plays Kent State Friday at 9:30 p.m.

MAC Notes:

-Miami has a four man broadcast team which is by far the biggest in the MAC. Steve Baker delivers the pbp, Joe Berry adds the color, Tim Bray gives sideline updates and Tommy Leugers engineers the whole mess. Some MAC schools simply have one guy that does all four jobs.

-And yes, Tim Bray actually does something besides carry Steve Baker’s luggage. At 1:30 p.m. today he was in the media room hard at work doing research for tonight’s game Miami/Ohio University game. Tommy Leugers calls him “Tidbit Tim” for all the great research he does that provides his reports. I would put that broadcast team up against any from the BCS programs.

-They are playing the woman’s tourney here at the same time as the regular tourney so it makes for a lot of downtime especially on Friday and Saturday for the fans and writers.

-Akron coach Keith Dambrot is one of the best quotes in college coaching and I like using him when I can. After I finished interviewing him he looked at my rather large stature and told me to come up to Akron to take a look at his program and he would take me to one of the best restaurants ever. That may just cost him a boatload of money someday. He also is not very PC which makes for a better interview.

-Ohio University has the best looking dance in the MAC.

-Miami’s coach Charlie Coles is not with the team. He had a heart procedure performed in a local hospital and there is no word as to when he might return. Assistant coach Jermaine Henderson is coaching the team for the remainder of the season.

Games of the Night: Akron at Kent State

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:56:47 -0800

Games of the Night

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

Akron (14-3) at Kent State (14-4)

7:00 PM

Two of the three best teams in the MAC (w/ Ohio) get together for what is a big night for the High-Major leagues. The Zips haven't lost in league play, but Kent State has had a more impressive overall season with wins over the likes of George Mason, Illinois State, and Cleveland State. Kent State is the safe choice here, at home, and coming off a loss to Ohio.

Prediction: Kent State

San Diego State (14-4) at BYU (13-5)

8:00 PM

Early in the year, BYU was a trendy Top 25 pick.. I guess by virtue of beating Louisville. In the past couple of weeks, their play has slipped with bad losses at Boise State and UNLV (by 29 points). Due to these struggles, their at-large chances have slipped tremendously so they need to pick it up in MWC play. SDSU comes in a perfect 4-0 in league play, and their 14-4 record looks good, but their overall results are anything but awe-inducing. As mediocre as BYU has been of late, I like them to win at home.. leaving the MWC with 4 one-loss teams when the night is over.

Prediction: BYU

Western Kentucky (14-5) at New Orleans (14-5)

8:00 PM

Rounding out a rare night without power conference teams is a quality Sun Belt matchup. WKU is 6-1 in league play, while UNO is 4-3. Along with this conference as whole, both teams are probably underrated nationally. WKU's star is Courtney Lee while UNO features Bo McCalebb, one of the best scorers in the country. Both these teams play with good tempo, and it's disappointing this game isn't even on ESPN Full Court. Vegas favors WKU, but I like the Privateers.

Prediction: New Orleans

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

January 21st - Drake at Creighton (1-2)

January 20th - Texas at Oklahoma State (3-0)

January 19th - Marquette at UCONN (2-1)

January 18th - Illinois State at Drake (2-1)

January 17th - Vanderbilt at Tennessee (2-1)

January 14th - Georgetown at Pittsburgh (2-1)

January 12th - Stanford at Oregon (3-0)

January 9th - Rhode Island at Dayton (2-1)

January 8th - Florida at Alabama (2-1)

January 7th - Robert Morris at Boston College (1-2)

January 6th - North Carolina at Clemson (2-1)

January 5th - Western Kentucky at South Alabama (3-0)

January 4th - American at Brown (0-3)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Three Stars of the Day: Abbott, Harden, Linhart

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:07:55 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Ty Abbott / James Harden - Arizona State

I couldn't choose between the Sun Devils freshmen who combined for 52 points in a double-OT win over Cal, so I went with both,

Nate Linhart - Akron

Hit a wild game-winning tip-in to beat Ohio and also led the Zips with a dozen points

Adris DeLeon - Eastern Washington

Led all scorers in all games last night with 42 in the Eagles OT win over Big Sky foe Northern Colorado

Other Top Performers

Jon Brockman - Washington - The Huskies picked up their first Pac-10 win thanks to his monster 21 & 16 effort

Wayne Chism - Tennessee - His 18 rebounds were the most by a Vol in over a decade.

DJ White - Indiana - With the guards struggling against Minnesota, White's inside play and intensity pushed the Hoosiers to a win

Previous Stars of the Day

January 17th - Dionte Christmas, Temple

January 14th - Roy Hibbert, Georgetown

January 11th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 9th - DJ White, Indiana

January 8th - Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin

January 7th - Wayne Ellington, UNC

January 6th - Shan Foster, Vanderbilt

January 5th - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

January 3rd - Damon Huffman, Brown

January 2nd - Martin Zeno, Texas Tech

November/December Star of the Day Archive

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the MAC?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:42:35 -0700

2007-08 Akron Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:37:41 -0700

Akron Zips

Overall Rank: #95

Conference Rank: #3 MAC

2006-07: 26-7, 13-3, 1^st East

2006-07 postseason: none

After a year in which Akron was the best team in the conference and, for all practical purposes, got snubbed on multiple levels by the NIT, Coach Keith Dambrot will have to make another postseason run without his leading scorer or point guard. Despite the absence of those two big time players, the Zips will not fall far. And without the pressures of being the preseason favorites, maybe Akron will finally return to the NCAA Tournament. They definitely have the experience to make a tournament run.

Who’s Out:

Forward Romeo Travis was a great scorer, rebounder and defender. He was not a great shooter, but Travis would use his athleticism to finish around the basket. Without him, the team’s athleticism will take a step back. As big of a loss as Travis is, Dru Joyce might be bigger when all is said and done. Joyce, one of five players to average double digit scoring last season, was a tremendous floor leader over the years in Akron. While there is experience ready to take over, his absence will be felt for quite a while. Little used forward John Rybak is not returning to the program.

Who’s In:

Even without any newcomers, Akron could go seven deep. Yet, there may be a few gems among the freshmen to add some more quality depth to the roster for the 2007-2008 campaign. Centers Steve Swiech and Mike Bardo will be asked to bolster the frontcourt. Swiech, a 6-9 Pittsburgh product, is a solid all around big man. As long as he can handle the physicality of the MAC, he should get some minutes as a freshman. Bardo redshirted last year and should have developed that strength to battle under the basket. Bardo can step outside and hit the mid-range jumper and his year in the program is expected to have him ready to make a contribution. Forward Brett McKnight, brother of returning sophomore Chris McKnight, has the toughness to play the four and the shooting and ball handling skills to play the three. Point guards Steve McNees and Ronnie Steward will battle for minutes. McNees is a superb scorer, while Steward is more of pass first point guard. If either can be relatively effective, they could eventually earn a starting job this season. Andrew Moss and Eric Coblentz will add emergency depth to the perimeter.

Who to Watch:

If McNees or Steward take over the point guard duties, Nick Dials will be freed up and move back to the shooting guard position. Whether or not he is at the point, Dials is a quality scorer. And it is not like Akron does not have other scorers who cannot take over if Dials shooting suffers while he concentrates on running the show. Cedrick Middleton, who averaged 11.1 points per game, is a more dynamic scorer than Dials. While both can hit the long ball, Middleton does a better job getting to the basket. Middleton only started three games last year and it is time for the senior to show what he can do as a starter. Small forward Nate Linhart has started most of the games over the last two seasons and will be asked to do more on the offensive end this year. The versatile lefty has proven to be a good shooter, but just has yet to take many shots. He has the ability to become a big scorer with a little more aggressiveness, but if others can take over the scoring losses, Linhart will not have to. Junior Jimmy Conyers earned six starts last year and his defense will earn him more minutes this year.

Final Projection:
Coming off nearly two years of injuries, 6-6 forward Jeremiah Wood went right back to where he left off last year averaging 10.3 points and 7.8 rebounds. Wood will be the staple in the frontcourt this year and how well he can perform without Travis taking away the defense remains to be seen. Quade Milum is a great athlete and championship high jumper in high school. That is a nice skill to have for a power forward. The 6-7 senior averaged 6.5 points and 3.4 rebounds last year and should increase those numbers with more playing time. Chris McKnight showed his potential despite averaging just 7.0 minutes per contest as a freshman and the tough forward should find more minutes at the three and four spots this year.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none

Projected Starting Five:

Nick Dials, Senior, Guard, 10.1 points per game

Cedrick Middleton, Senior, Guard, 11.1 points per game

Nate Linhart, Junior, Forward, 5.9 points per game

Quade Milum, Senior, Forward, 6.5 points per game

Jeremiah Wood, Senior, Forward, 10.3 points per game

Complete Top 144 Ranking | 2007-08 Preview | Discuss the Preview

Top of the World Classic Field Announced

Press Release — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:15:15 -0700

Fairbanks, AK - Hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, seven Division I teams from the “lower 48” will be joining UA’s Nanooks in the spectacle held at the Carlson Center which has become a popular D-I event.

Akron, the Mid-American East regular-season champion and an NCAA tournament team except for a last-second desperation shot, won 26 of 33 games last season and will be considered an early favorite in the TOWC with three of its first five scorers returning.

Nevertheless, it’s the overall balance of the eight-team field and its balance which is the most notable aspect of next season’s tournament.

Colorado State and the Nanooks, both with 17-13 marks, are top teams in the tournament’s upper bracket based on final 2007 records.

The Rams will be facing a dangerous Oregon State (11-21) club in the meet’s opening game Thursday (Nov. 15) while the Nanooks have been pitted against Tennessee State (12-20).

Akron will likely be a strong favorite in its first outing against South Carolina Upstate which will be competing for the first season at the D-I level after collecting a 17-11 record in its final year of D-II play.

In the final game of the TOWC’s first-round, a powerful Portland State club which won 19 while losing 13 a year ago, will open against IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis).

Overall the 2007 tournament teams posted a composite 134-113 won-lost record compared to an overall 130-122 mark compiled by teams from last year’s TOWC field.

The complete pairings follow:

Thursday (Nov. 15)—
Game 1, 6:00 p.m. Colorado State vs. Oregon State
Game 2, 8:30 p.m. Alaska vs. Tennessee State

Friday (Nov. 16)—
Game 3, 6:00 p.m. Akron vs. South Carolina Upstate
Game 4, 8:30 p.m. Portland State vs. IUPUI

Saturday (Nov. 17)—
Game 5*, 12:00 p.m. Losers of games 1 and 2
Game 6, 2:30 p.m. Losers of games 3 and 4
Game 7*, 5:30 p.m. Winners of games 1 and 2
Game 8, 8:00 p.m. Winners of games 3 and 4

Sunday (Nov. 18)—
Game 9*, 10:00 a.m. Losers of games 5 and 6 (7th and 8th place)
Game 10*, 12:30 p.m. Losers of games 7 and 8 (3rd and 5th place)
Game 11*, 3:30 p.m. Winners of games 5 and 6 (4th and 6th place)
Game 12, 6:00 p.m. Winners of games 7 and 8 (1st and 2nd place)

The championship game between winners of games 7 and 8 will follow three earlier games determining the other six-place finishers in the tournament.

*As in previous years, there will be a provision granted the host Nanooks allowing their games to always be played in an evening session.

– www.alaskananooks.com –