Dave in Green

Ebb and flow.

No one on that team hustles more than Tree. He will more than make up for that over the course of the game.

Zips 12-23 (52.2%) from the field and 3-5 (60%) of 3s; Kitties 14-25 (56%) and 5-8 (62.5%). Zips have been outrebounded 13-9 (no excuse for that) and have 6 turnovers to 3 for the Kitties. Zips defense is the main problem.

You need to tell him that to his face.

Get used to ebb and flow in this game.

We can all sit down now.

I guess not. New game thread was created.

No new game thread? Just continue this one?

The St. Louis arena (Chaifetz Arena) design is about perfect for college basketball, but pricey at $86.9 million in 2013 dollars. It's a wonderful Zips dream arena if UA could afford it.

Yes DiG posts Captain Day go poopy Chipmunks chuckle scurrilously

CINCINNATI -- Brad Redford hit a long 3-pointer that put Xavier back ahead after wasting a 13-point lead, and the Musketeers beat No. 19 Memphis 64-62 on Tuesday night, ending the Tigers' 18-game winning streak. ..... ..... The Tigers (24-4) scored only 20 points in the first half -- their lowest-scoring half of the season -- and got dominated on the boards, ending a couple of notable streaks. Their 18-game winning streak was tied with Akron for longest in the nation. .....

That was the longest last few seconds ever.

Xavier oh so close to the upset.

Looks like it's going to be a close one to the end.

Memphis is trying to stretch its winning streak to 19 tonight, and take over the nation's longest winning streak from the Zips. Xavier has other ideas, and is holding a 31-20 lead at halftime. Go Musketeers!

@HS Stripes, I need to slow down when I read your posts, as they're packed with good points. I'd like to take a swing at this from a slightly different perspective. Going back to the NCAA officiating guidelines, they talk about two problems with hanging on the rim -- player safety and game delays from damaged equipment. I started thinking about what might have happened to Zeke if the rim/backboard had failed when he was fully extended with his back to the floor. He would have fallen nearly 10 feet directly onto his back, which could have produced a serious injury. Considering that, was it in fact the right thing for the official to give Zeke a T for putting himself in such a potentially dangerous position? Even though Zeke was not trying to end up in that awkward position, he has no game experience with steals and full-speed slams like that one. We all now know what can happen when a player of his size approaches the basket head-on for a slam at that speed and height. Was it a good warning to Zeke that if he ever finds himself in a similar situation that he should not run directly at the rim but perhaps approach more from the side and slam the ball through without needing to grab the rim to keep from hitting his head on the rim or backboard?

Oops, I don't know how I missed that earlier link. Honestly, the flood of positive stories is getting a little overwhelming to keep up with. This is the kind of national recognition for which so many Zips fans have been waiting so long. I can't get enough of this.

I'm starting to be floored by some of the stories I'm finding. Could anyone in their wildest imagination ever have dreamed that in a story entitled College Basketball Computer Rankings: Could Gonzaga Be No. 1?, that the main team used to compare Gonzaga with is Akron! ..... We have watched enough of this Gonzaga team to believe it is possible. The Zags are much better than we expected at the beginning of the season. That is partially because of a long-haired freak of a player named Kelly Olynyk. This partially because, if anything, Gonzaga is a better version of the Akron teams we so praised in the preseason. There are stars, with little S's. And the total is much greater than the sum of its parts. The parts in this case are just that much better than the parts that Keith Dambrot's teams take the floor with. That is not to say that the Zips aren't any good (we are heading off the angry Akron mobs at the pass on this one. The Zips are rated quite nicely by these numbers). They just aren't to the level that Gonzaga has set this season. .....

New challenger for best story yet is up on Bleacher Report. It goes into deep detail about why the Zips are so good: March Madness Sleeper Series: How Akron Could Shock the World

This is the best headline yet, and maybe the best story, too. Really good description of how good the Zips' team attitude is right now. It's currently the lead story in Sporting News college basketball section: The Bracket Buster: Akron Built to Rampage Through NCAA Tournament

@HS Stripes, every time I read anyone describing their view of what happened, I keep going back and looking at the video to see how that compares with the perception. In this case, the official had a clear view of the entire play from beginning to end. The official is standing right by the halfcourt line when Zeke makes the steal, and he takes off toward the other end ahead of Zeke, watching him every step of the way. It just struck me that some folks may be watching different versions of the video. There's one on YouTube that shows only one angle and is a little blurry. I'll include a link to the good one, which is higher def and includes both side and front angle views. Watching the video in real time gives you one perspective. Stopping the video and dragging the slider a frame at a time gives a more detailed look at every element of the event. Obviously it also helps to view the video full screen and not in a small window.

A close review of the video shows that Driscoll is the one who made the call. The other two refs have sandy colored, thinning hair, and both show up in the video at the other end of the court. Driscoll has a fuller head of hair that's darker. He's the one who ran down the far sideline and into the corner. His arms are moving into a T the moment Zeke's feet hit the floor, and Zeke only held the rim for 1 second. So that's how quick he made the call. It was pure reflex action.

I'm almost positive it was Driscoll who made the call, not Yorkovich.

@HS Stripes, thanks for your intelligent analysis. You appear to have some actual officiating experience or background. What I quoted from were NCAA official guidelines used to explain in more detail how officials are expected to enforce the rules under different circumstances. The key point from the NCAA perspective is that player safety is the primary concern. Had Zeke not grabbed on to the rim under those very specific circumstances, it's likely he may have been injured. Had he released any sooner than he did, it's likely he may have been injured. The rule was not applied correctly in this situation. But given that even some Zips fans believe that Zeke deserved a technical, it's easy to see how an official might also be fooled into thinking he saw something else. The official who made the call was Pat Driscoll, who primarily officiates Big Ten and Big East games. He's a 17-year veteran with 12 years experience officiating in the NCAA tournament, so he's obviously well thought of by the NCAA. I don't believe that Driscoll was trying to screw Akron or that he's a dumb ref. It was a unique situation that none of us has ever seen before. I believe that if Driscoll reviewed the video at slow speed and judged it by the detailed NCAA officiating guidelines, he would agree that Zeke's actions were taken exclusively to protect his own safety, which the NCAA says is its primary concern. But incorrect judgment calls are made throughout every game. It's part of the game everyone has to live with.

"Listen, our program would not be what it is today if it wasn't for LeBron James," said Dambrot, who has deep Akron roots, as his mother was a professor at the school. "When I walk into recruits' homes and they know I coached LeBron, they trust I know what I'm talking about. He plays in the summer at Akron, he was here a ton during the (NBA) lockout. And there's no question LeBron helped me become a better coach. I always held him to the highest standard, and I still do today."