Game 8- Marshall

[clarkwgriswold]

The Zips travel to Huntington on Wednesday the 4th to face the Thundering Herd.  The Herd is just 2-3 (but play tonight) and are coached by Dan D'Antoni who loves to have his teams get up and down the floor and score.  This year they are only averaging 71.6 ppg, so they must be down a little.  They lost their two top scorers to graduation from a team that won the CBI tournament.  5-11 junior guard Jarrod West leads Herd scorers at 15.9 ppg, while 6-5 sophomore guard Taeveon Kinsey leads rebounding at 6.6 rpg.  In the pre-season poll, they were picked to finish 11th in Conference USA. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by clarkwgriswold

[kreed5120]

Marshall is currently up 33-25 at the half against #24 Florida. 

[zippy5]

They lost. Toledo also beat them 96-70

[Blue & Gold]

I love to hate Marshall.

[clarkwgriswold]

I enjoy it when the Zips play Marshall as I enjoy their pace and motion.

[kreed5120]

This appears to be a rebuilding year for Marshall, but they have been one of the better teams in C-USA each of the past 4 years. D'Antoni certainly has made them more competitive since taking over. I hope we continue to extend the contract for this OOC game.

[NWAkron]

In my confuse head, I see this as must-win.  Zips need these type of road wins that were illusive last two years.  The last road win I remember was first round against WMU in 2018.

[Let'sGoZips94]

This is the biggest OOC game (aside from WVU/Louisville) for a number of reasons. 

 

- We have a guy on our staff with a STRONG Huntington, WV, connection for recruiting. 

- A down Marshall squad is who we should be beating in year 3 of Groce. 

- Road wins have been tough in recent years (as @NWAkron mentioned). 

- Prove we deserve to be talked about with some of the expected top teams in the MAC (Toledo, Buffalo, etc.). 

[zippy5]

Tulane's gonna be a bigger one than Marshall

[Blue & Gold]

53 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Tulane's gonna be a bigger one than Marshall

It's funny how powerful tradition is.  I was watching the Cincinnati -v- UNLV game last night & was thinking how cool it would be if we could bring UNLV to the JAR.  But man I'm getting old, as UNLV hasn't really been relevant since the early 90's.  But I still think of them as a basketball power.  Same goes with UMass.  And Temple.  To a lesser degree Tulane.  Even Loyola-Marymount (they experienced a little tournament success same era as those classic UNLV teams).  Now that I think about it, when was the last time Cincy got past the 2nd round of the NCAA's?  UConn seems to be falling into this category as well.

 

Anyway, yes, I think Tulane would be a nice trophy prize.

 

While I'm just rambling here, Louisville is now ranked #1 in the nation.  We only lost to them by 6, so we should probably be ranked between what, 2-to-4?

Edited December 3, 2019 by Blue & Gold

[zippy5]

#5 at worst. Wake up pollsters!

[1981 grad]

I have watched a lot of Akron basketball since the eighties and do not recall an Akron team ever beating a ranked team.  Please correct me if I am wrong.  Will this be the year?  

[Blue & Gold]

10 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I have watched a lot of Akron basketball since the eighties and do not recall an Akron team ever beating a ranked team.  Please correct me if I am wrong.  Will this be the year?  

I don't believe we ever have.  I remember losing to Top 25-ranked Nevada at the buzzer during the Dru-Romeo-Wood era.

[kreed5120]

We'd have to win the MAC tourney then win our first NCAAT game in program history to get a top 25 win. It's just tough to do when you only get 1, maybe 2 cracks per year at it. Last year would have been the year to do it. We had 3 cracks at a ranked Buffalo plus played a ranked Clemson and a ranked Nevada OOC. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by kreed5120

[Zip JD]

1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

I have watched a lot of Akron basketball since the eighties and do not recall an Akron team ever beating a ranked team.  Please correct me if I am wrong.  Will this be the year?  

I believe the closest we came was 2011 when the Zips beat a 1-0 Miss State team that had Rodney Hood and several players that went on to pro careers overseas.  The Zips controlled the game and won by 10 at MSU's house.  MSU was unranked at the time, but would climb as high as #15 before a losing streak late in the season.  Probably the best start to finish Zips game I have ever watch (on TV that is).  Harney had a break away dunk near the end of the game to seal it.

[1981 grad]

    I remember losing to a really good VCU team at home when we were leading by one point with about 7 seconds left in the game.  Although VCU was a really good team and went to the 2nd round of the NCAA they were never ranked.

[Zip JD]

57 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

    I remember losing to a really good VCU team at home when we were leading by one point with about 7 seconds left in the game.  Although VCU was a really good team and went to the 2nd round of the NCAA they were never ranked.

I believe that was also the 2011 team.

[Let'sGoZips94]

3 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

I don't believe we ever have.  I remember losing to Top 25-ranked Nevada at the buzzer during the Dru-Romeo-Wood era.

 

Still makes me sick that we shot something like 60% from the charity stripe that game (correct me if I'm wrong). Should have been a W. Fazekas was on that squad, as it was the return game from the Bracket Buster the year prior. 

[johnnyzip84]

Future Cav Ramon Sessions was also on that Wolfpack squad:

 

Box Score

[gozips19]

29 minutes ago, johnnyzip84 said:

Future Cav Ramon Sessions was also on that Wolfpack squad:

 

Box Score

Javale Mcgee was also on that team. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by gozips19

[ZipsVoice]

Xavier was ranked 19th in the Coaches Poll in December 1996 and was 8-0 when they visited the JAR and pulled out a 113-111 triple overtime thriller against the Zips with Jimmal Ball scoring 44 for us.  That was my closest and most depressing loss to a ranked team.....

[Blue & Gold]

9 minutes ago, ZipsVoice said:

Xavier was ranked 19th in the Coaches Poll in December 1996 and was 8-0 when they visited the JAR and pulled out a 113-111 triple overtime thriller against the Zips with Jimmal Ball scoring 44 for us.  That was my closest and most depressing loss to a ranked team.....

I remember that.  I believe Ali Kart (?) had a nice look at a mid-range jumper that could have sent the game into another overtime... but it rimmed out.

 

[1981 grad]

2 hours ago, johnnyzip84 said:

Future Cav Ramon Sessions was also on that Wolfpack squad:

 

Box Score

I noticed on the box score we only attempted 10 three point shots.  It reminds me that in the last few years under KD and now with Groce it seems this team has become dependent on the 3 point shot and we shoot 30 a game.  Sometimes it seems that shooting a 3 is settling for an easy shot instead of working the ball into a better shooting position. 

[clarkwgriswold]

9 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I noticed on the box score we only attempted 10 three point shots.  It reminds me that in the last few years under KD and now with Groce it seems this team has become dependent on the 3 point shot and we shoot 30 a game.  Sometimes it seems that shooting a 3 is settling for an easy shot instead of working the ball into a better shooting position. 

 

I so miss the mid-range jumper.

[ZZZips]

24 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

 

I so miss the mid-range jumper.

Agree...but I also miss the flat foot two hand set shot and the underhanded free throw.