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My viewpoint is that of an Akron fan and not as an outside fan looking at whether Akron is a good team. I like to watch good basketball and I thought Akron played well last night. They do not have the talent Creighton has and would have to play error free basketball and hope Creighton has a sub par game to pull off the upset. Neither happened last night. Frustration was watching the Buffalo game and the Ohio State game last year where we had the talent to win but played sub par games.

Thats pretty easy to explain actually. Beacause Akrons first team is better than Creightons second team.

Would you feel the same way if they lost by 12?.....jk... about what I expected.... neerly every line had it at 12-12.5 ... not a good loss for Akron, or a good win for Creighton ... just a cruise control 12 point win

To stress your incredulity, B&G, allow me to prepare you for the Gonzaga Bulldog team you haven't seen. First --Yes, Creighton is an entirely legitimate Top-10 team -- which played as well against us as Villanova did in 2015 -- and you probably remember what happened to that team. HOWEVER, Gonzaga on their home court is 5-10 points better than Creighton --making them at least a top-3 national team, and possibly #1. They have three seven-footers on the roster, the second one as good as the fantastic frosh Creighton started against us. And the starter, Przemek Karnowski may be the top draft pick and the best collegiate player in the NCAA. After Karnowski they have other All-America caliber athletes like combo guard Josh Perkins who scored 16 in yesterday's Zag win over Arizona and shot over 45% from 3-point range as a freshman last year. Then Nigel Williams-Goss is playing great ball at the other guard spot, and was MVP of the recent tournament where the Zags beat Iowa State for the title. I have followed Mark Few and this program since they surpassed mid-major status so many years ago, and I believe this is the best team Gonzaga has put on the floor, and the one most-likely to reach the Final Four. IF the Zips play their best game, similar to the performance versus Creighton's Blue Jays, the spread will be closer to 20 than the 12 they lost to on Saturday night. But, that quality of Akron team makes them the strong favorite to win another MAC title, and I think our depth in the backcourt means we're more likely to win the last game in Cleveland this year.

You should stick to the football forum.

Do you think last night's game diminished or enhanced Akron's reputation as being poison?

We were without our starting PG and went into a hostile environment against an elite Creighton team and competed for 40 minutes. If you don't think we competed then explain to me why McDermott played 4 of his 5 starters 18+ minutes in the 2nd half, including Patton the full 20? I've heard everyone all year say this is one of the worst Dambrot teams. This team didn't look like one of the "worst Dambrot teams" last night. I actually came away more hopeful on our outlook for the season after the game than I went into it feeling. Upsets in the regular season are talked about for a week or 2 then forgotten. Akron, like all mid-majors, will be judged on postseason success. Give me back Robotham and I feel we could compete against a lot of high caliber teams this season.

No, not on its own, necessarily. I referenced a frustrating pattern where we don't seem to get any closer to winning any of these types of games. And this game was over with about 13 min. left, and Creighton went into cruise control. Maybe next week in Spokane will finally be the breakthrough. Don't get me wrong. For our OWN purposes, we need to play these games, and more of them. But nobody in the country today outside of Akron fans cares that Kwan showed leadership. or Jimond looked good, or that the loss may not have looked as bad as a loss against another highly ranked team a year ago. Nobody is going to view Akron any differently until we start pushing some of these teams to the wire and winning some of these games. And regardless of what positives WE might pull out of a game like this, it's still more of the same in terms of Akron vs. the higher echelon of college basketball.

I do not share your frustration as there were too many positives in this game. Kwan a senior, lead this team with 17 points and played great defense. You have to love a kid that has a great game against good competition. If Kwan plays like that in Cleveland we will be tough. Jimond, played the most minutes of anyone on the team playing great defense. He is the most athletic Zip, good rebounder, and has quickness. Hopefully, this will convince KD that he should start and we are done with the 3 guard starting offense. Jimond deserves a start even when Noah comes back and Josh should come off the bench. I thought Antino did well attacking the basket although at times he got into trouble. He is the one Zip that can create his own shot with his step back jumper. This was a great learning experience for Dunn Martin. I saw him make a nice runner. He has to learn to attack the basket rather than shooting a quick 3. Most importantly, at Villanova last year this team got blown out in the second half. Here, this team made a comeback in the second half and cut into the lead. This team played with heart in the second half making key shots. They could not get key stops down the stretch. Since this was their first game against a ranked opponent, a 10 point loss in a well played game is not a frustrating loss.

GT could've watched the game and done a story

I think it should be enough to convince some people on here that we must play these games more often. They have plenty of benefits, as some people have pointed out in this thread, and has been discussed many time in the past. And it's also proof that there's not a mountain of separation between us and the top teams in the country. However, when you consider that the lead went to double digits fairly early in the 2nd half, and stayed in double digits the rest of the way with the exception of a brief time near the 2 or 3 minute mark when it dipped to 8 or 9, the loss is still pretty decisive. As I said earlier, the frustration comes from the fact that we are not getting closer to winning these games. And we were never close to being in a position to win this one.

I wish we could see this Kwan more consistently.

Playing Creighton and Gonzaga in the span of a week, both on the road, is ideal for this team to find out what they're really made of. Even with Coppin State in between, it's a tougher stretch than they'll ever face in the MAC. Having Coppin State even lets them have an opportunity to put what they've learned from Creighton into practice before facing another tough opponent.

Yes, it does give you a little hope that we can compete against Gonzaga. But, it's still frustrating that we never seem to ever get any closer to beating a top team.

Definitely. I haven't seen Gonzaga play, but there's no way they're going to be as athletic as Creighton.

Good showing. Creighton looks like an Elite 8 type of team. They are athletic and can shoot the ball. And they were making clutch shots. Good game. We're not at their level. But we're not that far behind, either. P.s. Hate to say it, but I'm glad KD limited Josh's minutes down the stretch. He doesn't seem to offer us much. He's a one-trick-pony on offense & can't guard anyone.

ALL I CAN SAY IS GIVE IVEY THE BALL!

Anyone watching the game? I mean it's not like were on tv against the 10th ranked team in the nation. Akron is in striking distance. Nice couple of baskets from hokey-pokey and TDM

Just had lunch with Matt, Jacob and a few other Zips fans here in Omaha. I can tell you he is totally committed to do whatever he can to make sure our athletic programs prosper. Great guy.

With Navy getting blown out by Temple and WMU holding off Ohio, they're going to the Cotton Bowl. Nice job and $$ for the MAC and Akron.

It was TRIPLE overtime. This was the first round game at home during the our first MAC tournament win in 2009 that I referenced above. Brett's basket was actually a catch-and-shoot in the paint, all in one motion. It was a pretty unbelievable play. The audio of Steve French's call on those two plays is classic.

The University of Akron Men's Basketball team comes back from a 12-point deficit to win their first round game in the MAC Tournament against Toledo in overtime. Humpty Hitchens nails a three at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. After a miracle shot by Toledo, Brett McKnight tips the ball in from an inbounds pass by Hitchens. An amazing game that I was sure we had lost at least 3 times.

Yes indeed Montreal was up 3-0 early in the 2nd half just after Oyongo (yes Oyongo) scored a soft goal culminating a run that started pretty deep in the Impact end. Then Jozy scored in the 68th, and 5 minutes later threw Cabrera to the ground in the box to get gain control of the ball and eventually set up Bradley's goal making it 3-2. Both clubs had several chances to take control throughout the series, which made it so compelling. The final should be interesting.