At one point during Saturday night’s 77-47 victory over Eastern Michigan University, the University of Akron players just looked plain bored, and they played like it, too. The Zips couldn’t be blamed, because they outplayed the Eagles in every facet of the game in front of a crowd of 4,234 at Rhodes Arena.
There’s not a whole lot to quibble with their effort otherwise, but the complete domination of the Eagles was in full effect just inside the last 10 minutes of the first half when they hadn’t yet scored in double digits.
The Zips can take credit for much of that as they harassed and harangued the Eagles on defense and beat the Eagles’ zone defense the only way they could — with tremendous shooting from the outside. They played arguably their best game of the season, jumping out early and maintaining a dominant position throughout.
“I think it’s a good thing because we were kind of sluggish the past few games,” guard Chauncey Gilliam said.
On more than one occasion, the Zips forced the Eagles into shot-clock violations or stole the ball. They turned those defensive mistakes on the Eagles’ part into points, scoring 26 off 18 turnovers.
The Eagles’ plodding version of offense, employed to slow the Zips down, worked against them as it gave the Zips the opportunity to settle into a rhythm on that end of the floor.
“We came in with a simplistic approach to it, and just wanted to play,” Zips coach Keith Dambrot said.
Offensively, center Zeke Marshall got his points inside, a total of 11, but overall UA’s points came from beating the Eagles with outside shooting, as nine UA players scored.
“I think we were just trying to get the ball inside and throw it inside-out and try to hit the 3,’’ said Gilliam, who led the Zips with 13 points, The Zips’ domination proved so complete that Eagles coach Rob Murphy had little choice but to abandon his offensive game plan, changing to an up-tempo game. That move ultimately played right into Akron’s hands. Dambrot likes to see his teams run — gallop is more accurate.
Although the change produced a small scoring spurt that allowed the Eagles to get to within 15 points of the Zips, it eventually forced the Eagles into more mistakes as the Zips continued to hunker down on defense, eventually securing what would be the winning margin.
The win puts the Zips in an enviable position.
Entering the final full month of the regular season, the Zips are firmly in control of their destiny in the Mid-American Conference East with their 8-1 conference record. A rematch with the Ohio Bobcats in Athens on national television looms Feb. 26th and another game with the Buffalo Bulls, the only team to beat them in the conference, remain.
“We know it’s February now and we have to kick it up into a higher gear, because March is just around the corner,” Gilliam said.
During the past two seasons, the Zips have registered a 16-3 record in February. Under coach Dambrot they are 41-15 in the past eight seasons.
Game notes
Dambrot notched his 178th victory to tie Tony Laterza, who coached the Zips from 1960-68, for second place in career wins. ... Marshall’s assault: Center Zeke Marshall moved into sixth place for all-time leaders in blocked shots in the MAC.
George M. Thomas can be reached at gmthomas@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Zips blog at http://zips.ohio.com. Follow the Zips on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/GeorgeThomasABJ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
