clarkwgriswold Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) The Zips head to lovely DeKalb, Illinois to face the Northern Illinois Huskies Tuesday night. The Huskies were picked to finish second in the MAC West in the MAC Preseason Poll, with senior guard Eugene German being named to the All-MAC West team. Northern Illinois won 17 games last season and advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2003. They stand at 8-7 going into Saturday's game with Eastern Michigan. German leads the Huskies and the MAC at over 20 ppg, while dishing out nearly 4 apg. Edited January 12, 2020 by clarkwgriswold Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 For some unexplainable reason we seem to always struggle when we have to go to DeKalb. Quote
NWAkron Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 1 hour ago, kreed5120 said: For some unexplainable reason we seem to always struggle when we have to go to DeKalb. The Huskies nailed Canada last year in DeKalb. It's like DeKalb is below sea level or something. All good teams slow down. Quote
Hilltopper Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 That arena in Dekalb is like playing in a big warehouse or barn. Throw in the fact that their attendance is right up there with Eastern makes for a scrimmage type feel. Not to mention the campus is surrounded by cornfields. It's an easy place to have a letdown. Quote
RowdyZip Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 42 minutes ago, Hilltopper said: That arena in Dekalb is like playing in a big warehouse or barn. Throw in the fact that their attendance is right up there with Eastern makes for a scrimmage type feel. Not to mention the campus is surrounded by cornfields. It's an easy place to have a letdown. And that godawful floor... Quote
MDZip Posted January 11, 2020 Report Posted January 11, 2020 (edited) It looks like German and the Role Players. No one else really stands out. If the Zips could weather Flowers and Teague I think they bust the NIU curse. Zips 67-63. Edited January 12, 2020 by MDZip Quote
NWAkron Posted January 12, 2020 Report Posted January 12, 2020 NIU's worst MAC shooting % offense (42) meets Akron's best MAC shooting % defense (38.9) 1 Quote
ZippyRulz Posted January 12, 2020 Report Posted January 12, 2020 18 hours ago, Hilltopper said: That arena in Dekalb is like playing in a big warehouse or barn. Throw in the fact that their attendance is right up there with Eastern makes for a scrimmage type feel. Not to mention the campus is surrounded by cornfields. It's an easy place to have a letdown. Stay healthy. Quote
AyYo Posted January 12, 2020 Report Posted January 12, 2020 On 1/11/2020 at 9:54 AM, kreed5120 said: For some unexplainable reason we seem to always struggle when we have to go to DeKalb. It's also the longest road trip in the MAC. I believe I once heard that it's the only MAC game where they take a plane. Quote
Zip JD Posted January 12, 2020 Report Posted January 12, 2020 8 minutes ago, AyYo said: It's also the longest road trip in the MAC. I believe I once heard that it's the only MAC game where they take a plane. They have flown in the past, but usually its a miserable bus ride that awaits the team. Frenchie occasionally talks about the haunted hotel they have to stay in as well. Quote
NWAkron Posted January 13, 2020 Report Posted January 13, 2020 50 minutes ago, Zip JD said: They have flown in the past, but usually its a miserable bus ride that awaits the team. Frenchie occasionally talks about the haunted hotel they have to stay in as well. Anyone else notice the sweet luxury double decker bus that Ball State had parked outside the JAR? And a random piece of info: it's only 90 minutes from Oxford to Muncie. Quote
Hilltopper Posted January 13, 2020 Report Posted January 13, 2020 They have flown to Dekalb in the past. The plane resembled the one in the movie Major League. I'd rather take the 6 hour bus ride. 1 4 Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 13, 2020 Author Report Posted January 13, 2020 2 hours ago, NWAkron said: Anyone else notice the sweet luxury double decker bus that Ball State had parked outside the JAR? And a random piece of info: it's only 90 minutes from Oxford to Muncie. Did it have an open top like those big city tour buses? Quote
NWAkron Posted January 13, 2020 Report Posted January 13, 2020 (edited) last week's info. my bad. Edited January 13, 2020 by NWAkron Quote
Blue & Gold Posted January 13, 2020 Report Posted January 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Zip JD said: They have flown in the past, but usually its a miserable bus ride that awaits the team. Frenchie occasionally talks about the haunted hotel they have to stay in as well. I thought the haunted hotel was in Kalamazoo. Is it in Dekalb? Quote
NWAkron Posted January 13, 2020 Report Posted January 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Blue & Gold said: I thought the haunted hotel was in Kalamazoo. Is it in Dekalb? DeKalb. Ugh...I've been following this so long I remember Frenchy and Dunn reporting that Matt Futch saw a ghost. This may have been after the last time the Zips won out there. 1 Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 (edited) Akron is 3 point favorites. The spread on the surface doesn't seem like enough given the way these 2 teams have played this season. I'd bet the game, but I've seen just as good Akron teams lose to even worse NIU squads in that arena. Edited January 14, 2020 by kreed5120 Quote
NWAkron Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 https://www.beaconjournal.com/sports/20200113/university-of-akron-menrsquos-basketball--zips-look-to-rein-in-niursquos-eugene-german Winning tonight heading into Saturdays game with Toledo will be huge. Expect that big lug McCarty to get chippy...might be good to put Sayles on him for some minutes. Got to be in position to take some charges from German Quote
clarkwgriswold Posted January 14, 2020 Author Report Posted January 14, 2020 I suspect Banks will spend a lot of time on German as opposed to LCJ. On the topic of Banks, has anyone else had the sense that he's hurt? He just doesn't look comfortable. Quote
NWAkron Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 19 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said: I suspect Banks will spend a lot of time on German as opposed to LCJ. On the topic of Banks, has anyone else had the sense that he's hurt? He just doesn't look comfortable. Sore lower back from what I can tell. Quote
Blue & Gold Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 58 minutes ago, NWAkron said: Sore lower back from what I can tell. I thought I saw him slightly tweak his knee, versus WMU I think. Maybe UMass. Quote
kreed5120 Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 It looks like the NIU board finally got around to creating a game thread about 30 minutes ago. Just in general their board looks relatively dead compared to here. https://csnbbs.com/thread-892426.html Quote
The Hip Zip Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 The line has dropped from 3' by a full point so Northern has received some considerable financial backing. Akron -2' / 136 Quote
NWAkron Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 54 minutes ago, The Hip Zip said: The line has dropped from 3' by a full point so Northern has received some considerable financial backing. Akron -2' / 136 Tension is building. 1 Quote
Let'sGoZips94 Posted January 14, 2020 Report Posted January 14, 2020 45 minutes ago, kreed5120 said: It looks like the NIU board finally got around to creating a game thread about 30 minutes ago. Just in general their board looks relatively dead compared to here. https://csnbbs.com/thread-892426.html Respectable opening post, though. Pretty solid background information & analysis leading up to the game; that poster must have attended the @clarkwgriswold School for Fan Forums. This is a massive game for 3 reasons. 1) NIU might be the class of the MAC West. They are tied for 1st in the West, and have been quite competitive all season. 10 pt loss to UNI, 12 pt loss at SMC, 9 pt loss at Pitt, and 1 pt loss at CMU. 2) NIU is our Kryptonite, and have been for a while. Dambrot had a 50+ home game winning streak if I remember correctly, which was of course ended by an abysmal NIU squad. 3) Keep. Winning. None of these polls matter if we lose. Plus, our momentum on the road is key this season with our road struggles in the past. Our defensive style and athleticism bodes well in this matchup. German will hopefully be tamed by our ability to be our opponents to the spot. We move our feet so well on defense; it's impressive. 3 Quote
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