clarkwgriswold

The Zips head to Ypsilanti Saturday to face the Eagles with a 3:30 tip-off. Stan Heath's crew stands at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the MAC, having beaten NIU 75-71 and lost at Toledo 90-87. Stan vs. Ted isn't exactly Wooden vs. Rupp. 6'8" senior forward Da'Sean Nelson, a DePaul transfer, leads the Eagles in scoring and rebounding at 16.8 ppg and 5.8 rpg. 6' senior guard Jalen Terry, another DePaul transfer, is second in scoring and rebounding at 15.8 ppg and 5.1 rpg.

Too bad they can't make trades. LOL.

Tavari playing well. Gray playing well. Young earning more minutes. Scott earning more minutes. Wilson earning more minutes. Groce has his work cut out for him.

So many kids earning more minutes. Spacing is good tonight.

He was a real shooter in high school. Maybe he's finally getting it?

Poor Carolyn Steele.

First Weekend scores: OU- 57 CMU-55 EMU- 75 NIU- 71 Ball St.- 75 PCCC- 67 Miami- 93 Buffalo- 79 Toledo- 76 WMU- 70

I remember the Marshal color guy talking about Sammy Hunter being a great shooter but not when he could smell popcorn (meaning being a good shooter in practice but not games). Maybe our shooters have that problem. LOL.

It's like every other Zips injury, a state secret. However, we know it is a shoulder. Friday night there was a report on X that he's done for the season. It was on the heels of Groce essentially stating that he and Mahaffey were out indefinitely. Hilltopper, whose info is always spot on, seemed to confirm he's done.

The team is small, guard heavy and deep. Take advantage of those things. Wear the other team down with ball pressure and pace. Pace means pushing the ball and playing fast. It does not have to mean playing sloppy, taking bad shots and turning the ball over. Also, the depth is going to help in the rigors of the MAC Tournament week. John Groce knows what he's doing and he's good at adapting and working with what he has. I'm going to trust him on this one.

That would be 9.5 point dog Ball State. Ball State makes 9 threes; Sullinger goes 1 for 9 from three. Outrebounded 34-24. There is no joy in Brimfield.

That's almost as prestigious as the Taylor Currie Overwhelming Disappointment Award.

Lucan Smith was 6'5"/195 and all effort. Seth Wilson is 6'2"/220 and I'm still not sure just what he is.

What I wouldn't give for another X. Strong rebounder, solid defender on bigs, inside and out offense...

The Zips open the home MAC schedule Tuesday with Central Michigan. The Chipps are 6-6 heading into their MAC opener tonight with Ohio U. 6'6" senior guard/forward Jakobi Heady, a Bethune-Cookman transfer, leads the Chipps in scoring (13.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). 6'10" junior forward, Cal Bakersfield transfer, Ugnius Jarusevicius is second on the team in scoring and rebounding at 12.7 ppg and 6.1 rpg. Anthony Pritchard, last year's Mid-American Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year and All-MAC first teamer also returns, and is averaging 12.3 ppg and 3.8 rpg . Pritchard, who led the team in points and assists per game last season, has been named to the preseason All-MAC first team. The Chipps returned 4 players from last year's squad and were picked 8th in the MAC preseason poll.

Well....damn. On a guard heavy team, the Zips could have really used Harris's height and skill set.

It's like Michael Huger never left.

Whew. Nice comback.

Young growing up tonight. They're too far into the season to change the offense.

7 for 29 from 3. Ugh.

Fixed it for you.

With any luck, some of these like Milwaukee and Princeton are home and away deals.

It's been a long time since I've seen this little excitement heading into a MAC season.

This is very basic and maybe an oversimplification, but the Zips lost to 5 better teams. Arguably, Milwaukee was not better and the Zips were off that night. I was encouraged by something Groce said in his angry Princeton post-game rant. He said this is a great group of kids that's getting better. No better time for it to all kick in with MAC play starting.