Akron @ Ohio

[ejcool27]

First road game in MAC play for our Zips. Ohio lost at home to Can't State 62-60 on Saturday. I like our chances to go 2-0 in the MAC, but how do you think we'll do on the road?

[RowdyZip]

First road game in MAC play for our Zips. Ohio lost at home to Can't State 62-60 on Saturday. I like our chances to go 2-0 in the MAC, but how do you think we'll do on the road?

The Convo is a tough place to play. OU is relying a LOT on a couple of VERY talented Freshman. This will likely hurt them later in the year rather than early, but I still like our odds. This should be a down year with the kids they're playing, but they've been solid so far. If we want to hold up our end of the bargain as favorites, this is a MUST WIN. We have a pretty tough draw for away games in the first half of the MAC East rotation though (Ohio, Buffalo, K-ent), the top 3 predicted finishers in the east behind Akron. The next 4 games will tell us a LOT of what we're going to get from this team. Lets hope Jimmy can block out the blow zone and continue on a potential MAC POY season, Bardo has another solid game stuffing the middle against a very similar (maybe more offensively challeged) player as Otis Polk in Kenneth Van Kempen, and the shots are falling from the outside.Akron 72Ohio 64

[skip-zip]

Regardless of the strength of the teams in our division in any given year, the road game at OU is my 2nd least favorite place to go. Winning as many of the East Div. road games as possible is the key every year right now. And since Can't has already won at OU, we have to keep pace.

[jupitertoo]

Regardless of the strength of the teams in our division in any given year, the road game at OU is my 2nd least favorite place to go. Winning as many of the East Div. road games as possible is the key every year right now. And since Can't has already won at OU, we have to keep pace.

Bobcats lost their "glue" in soph. Stephen Coleman (broken hand) two weeks ago and haven't figured out how to replace his points and/or court sense. They don't match up well with Akron's "bigs" either. OU is a year away from being a very good team, so the obvious advantage to Akron.

[Blue & Gold]

Regardless of the strength of the teams in our division in any given year, the road game at OU is my 2nd least favorite place to go. Winning as many of the East Div. road games as possible is the key every year right now. And since Can't has already won at OU, we have to keep pace.

Bobcats lost their "glue" in soph. Stephen Coleman (broken hand) two weeks ago and haven't figured out how to replace his points and/or court sense. They don't match up well with Akron's "bigs" either. OU is a year away from being a very good team, so the obvious advantage to Akron.

When watching Ohio University basketball, the obvious advantage is ALWAYS in Akron's favor.Prediction: I don't know what the score will be, but we'll b8tch slap the Bobkitties around... again... as usual.

[Quickzips]

This should be a victory for the Zips if they approach the game seriously. Watching the Ohio/Can't State broadcast over the weekend I didn't see much special from OU. They have some talented young guards, but they play a very "me first" brand of basketball. As someone already said, their frontcourt is very suspect. I still can't figure out where all the Van Kempen loves has come from. The guy has been a scrub for three years and I didn't see anything Saturday that would show me that he isn't a scrub in year four. If the Zips are patient and run their stuff they should dominate the post. We will probably need some good defensive performances from our guards, as their team is built on dribble penetration trying to break down the defense. Have to stay in front of their guards and not give them easy lanes to the basket.OU fans are already calling this a must win game after they piddled away a comeback effort over Can't. Handing them 2 early home losses to start the conference season would be demoralizing. Let's take OU out of the MAC race early.

[OZoner]

I don't think anyone considers Ohio a serious contender in the East, especially after Coleman went down. He was their best player.As far as Van Kempen goes, he's not a scoring threat, but his rebound has improved vastly and he is good at clearing out on drives by guards. He's no Romeo Travis, but he's no Brandon Parks, either.As far as the "me first" brand of basketball goes, you're thinking of the O'Shea days. Groce's offense is predicated on ball movement and unselfishness. Being such a young team, it's going to break down at times and the lack of offense from the forwards is putting the onus on the perimeters, but to call the team selfish is unfair, I think.Akron might have been better off had Ohio won Saturday. The team across I-76 taught them an important lesson, I think, in what it's going to take to compete in this division. If the young 'Cats are quick learners, they stand a good chance of winning tomorrow.

[WinZip]

I do worry knowing that anything can happen in the MAC... Ohio is no bottom feeder either, but I know we can win each and every game if we play to our abilities.Akron- 74BobCats-66

[Zipmeister]

I have not seen an official point spread, but I imagine its about Ohio -5. Smart money dictates one go with Ohio and give the points. The Meister says Akron by 14.