Akron (10-12, 5-8)
vs. Ohio (9-13, 6-8)
Sunday, February 23
7 p.m. EST
James A. Rhodes Arena (5,942)
Akron, Ohio
Tip Time: 7 p.m. EST
Television: None
Radio: FOX Sports/WTOU (1350 AM) in Akron, WHK (1220 AM) in Cleveland and WHKW (1440 AM) in Warren/Youngstown. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (color) (6:30 p.m. EST airtime).
The Records: Akron enters the contest 10-12, 5-8 and Ohio is 9-13, 6-8.
Akron Coach Dan Hipsher: Is in his eighth season with the Zips and holds a 95-120 mark at the school. He is 221-165 in his 14th season as a head coach. He is joined on the team by his sons Andy (Jr.) and Bryan (So.). He is 6-9 all-time versus Ohio.
Ohio Coach Tim O'Shea: Is in his second season at the helm of the Bobcats program and holds a 26-24 mark in that time. Prior to his post at OU, he was associate head coach at Boston College. He is 2-1 all-time versus Akron.
The Series: Sunday's contest is the 45th meeting between the schools on the hardwood and second this season. OU leads the series 25-19 after defeated Akron 112-108 in a four-overtime thriller on Jan. 8 in Athens. The clubs split last year's meetings, with OU winning in Akron (68-57) and UA in Athens (74-73). The Zips have won three of the last five meetings at the JAR Arena.
Akron-Ohio Makeup On Sunday...
The University of Akron men's basketball team closes out a two-game homestand Sunday at 7 p.m. EST at James A. Rhodes Arena when Ohio comes to town. The game is a make-up for the Feb. 17 game that was canceled due to inclement weather.
Akron (10-12, 5-8) comes off a 55-53 loss to Miami on Thursday in Akron and looks to snap a three-game overall losing streak and a two-game skid at home. UA is 8-4 at the JAR Arena this season.
Ohio (9-13, 6-8) visits Akron following a 79-72 double overtime victory over Western Michigan on Saturday in Athens. The Bobcats have won three of their last five games.
Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
* Akron has shot better than 50 percent in four of its last six games, with the exceptions coming at Marshall (Feb. 12) (42.9 percent) and vs. Miami (44.4 percent) on Thursday. Included in that span is a season-high 62.1 percent against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 1).
* Prior to that span Akron was on a four-game stretch where it didn't shoot better than 44.0 percent (at Miami, Jan. 20) and dipped as low as 34.1 percent (at Western Michigan, Jan. 25).
* Despite combining for only 16 points in the last three games, Johnny Hollingsworth has averaged 15.8 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds in the last six games. Included in that span are back-to-back career-high scoring outings at Northern Illinois (31 pts.) and versus Eastern Michigan (33 pts.).
* Derrick Tarver has averaged 23.1 ppg in Akron's 13 conference games and 21.9 ppg overall. He ranks third in the MAC and 13th nationally (Feb. 17) in scoring.
* Tarver and Johnny Hollingsworth have averaged 38.8 ppg in UA's 13 league games and 39.2 ppg overall.
* The Zips' win over Toledo (Feb. 5) was the 95th at Akron for head coach Dan Hipsher. He sits in fifth-place on the UA all-time list. Hipsher needs two more victories to tie Bob Huggins, who amassed 97 wins from 1985-89.
* Akron plays three of its five remaining games on the road. The Zips face Marshall on March. 5 in the home finale.
* Akron ranks 15th nationally in points per game (Feb. 17).
Tale Of The Tape...
Category UA OU
Record 10-12, 5-8 9-13, 6-8
Scoring 1740 1569
PPG 79.1 71.3
Scoring Margin +1.2 -5.3
FG Atts. 594-1241 525-1196
FG Pct. .479 .439
3-pt. FG Atts. 106-326 131-381
3-pt. FG Pct. .325 .344
3-pt FG MPG 4.8 6.0
FT Pct. .731 .659
Rebounds/RPG 665/30.2 767/34.9
Reb. Margin -4.4 -2.4
Assists/APG 328/14.9 316/14.4
Turnovers/TPG 268/12.1 366/16.6
TO Margin +3.5 +3.1
Assist/TO ratio 1.2 0.9
Steals/SPG 167/7.6 144/6.5
Blocks/BPG 53/2.4 60/2.7
On The Line...
* An Akron victory would improve its record to 9-4 at home this season.
* An Akron victory would be its fifth in seven games at the JAR Arena.
* An Akron victory would snap a three-game overall losing streak and a two-game skid at home.
* An Akron victory would be its fourth in six meetings against OU at the JAR Arena.
Trends And Things To Watch...
* Akron has shot better than 50 percent in four of the last six contests, bucking the trend at Marshall (42.9 percent) and against Miami (44.4 percent). Prior to the Marshall contest, the Zips connected on 54.4 percent at Northern Illinois (Jan. 29), a season-high 62.1 percent against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 1), 52.9 percent against Toledo and 50.9 vs. Central Michigan.
* Akron's 50.9-percent shooting performance against Central Michigan (Feb. 8) marked the fourth time this season the Zips have shot better than 50 percent in consecutive games. UA had performed the back-to-back feat three times between the Northern Illinois and Central Michigan games. The team opened the season with a 57.1 percent showing at Wright State (Nov. 23) and followed that with a 51.9 percent clip versus Capital (Nov. 27). Akron is 8-2 this season when it shoots 50 percent or better from the field.
* In the four contests leading up to the Jan. 29 meeting with Northern Illinois, the Zips had not shot better than 44 percent, hitting that number at Miami (Jan. 20) and 42.3 percent at Bowling Green (Jan. 18). UA had its second-lowest shooting performance (34.1 pct.) of the year against Western Michigan and hit only 40.6 percent against Kent State (Jan. 23). The team's worst shooting outing was a 33.9 percent showing against Cleveland State (Dec. 4).
* After shooting 50 percent or better in five of its first 10 games, recording a 6-4 mark in the process, UA had hit 50 percent just twice in the seven games leading up to the Feb. 1 Eastern Michigan game.
* Akron dominates its opponents when it comes to trips to the line. The Zips have hit 446 of 610 from the charity stripe while its opponents have connected on 348 of 493.
* The Zips have controlled the glass in four of the last five games. UA held a 38-34 advantage against Eastern Michigan (Feb. 1) had 33 caroms to Toledo's 29 (Feb 5), edged Central Michigan (Feb. 8) 31-26 and grabbed 24 compared to Miami's 22 on Thursday. Marshall (Feb. 12) pulled in 38 boards to UA's 32. Prior to the EMU game, Akron hadn't won the carom battle since the Iona game (Dec. 11), a stretch of 12 contests.
* Two of the Zips' top-five shooting performances of the season have come against conference opponents. UA shot 62.1 percent (best this season) from the floor against Eastern Michigan and 56.1 percent from the floor (3rd best this season) against Ball State (Jan. 4).
* Akron has led at the half in four of the last six contests, 37-26 at Northern Illinois (Jan. 29), 45-35 vs. Eastern Michigan (Feb. 1), 42-31 against Toledo (Feb. 5) and 27-25 vs. Miami. The Zips have been ahead at the half ten times this season, holding
