Akron coach Keith Dambrot is one of the only coaches in the country that watches the opposition warm up. His "old school" mentality rubbed off on Akron Tuesday night.
Akron coach Keith Dambrot sat on the away bench watching Ohio warmup. His arms crossed, his eyes glared as the Bobcats performed layup lines. There wasn’t an Akron assistant coach within a 15-foot radius.
Dambrot didn’t need to see anymore of the Bobcats. At least from the amount of film most coaches and teams watch before games, he shouldn’t have.
But that tenacity is what makes the 57-year-old Akron coach so thorough within the Mid-American Conference. Dambrot’s “old school” approach contrasted the zaniness of Ohio coach Saul Phillips, who didn’t come out until a few minutes before the opening tip.
“I always come out and watch,” Dambrot said. “What’s the sense of sitting in (the locker room) brutting? The only sense is that no one can yell at you, I guess, no one can talk to you. That’s the only benefit of sitting inside. I’m probably the only coach in the country that does it.”
That “old school” mentality shown by Dambrot translated to his Zips team Tuesday night.
The Zips (18-4, 7-2 Mid-American Conference) pounded the Bobcats (13-8, 4-5 MAC) with little flash and spectacle during their 80-68 win in The Convo. For 40 minutes, Akron grinded out Ohio by double teaming guard Jaaron Simmons on top of the key and getting Antonio Campbell in foul trouble early.
The Zips also had 45 bench points and, like they have all season under Dambrot, won with different players. Josh Williams, who had zero points in the previous two outings for Akron, led the Zips with 20 points Tuesday.
“We got a terrific performance from Josh Williams and he’s an outstanding young man,” Dambrot said. “He’s had to adjust to coming off the bench and he really saved us tonight because our normal 3-point shooters really didn’t shoot the ball really well.
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The Bobcats, who had 11 bench points, shot themselves in the foot by not finishing around the rim and shooting an uncharacteristic 57 percent from the free throw line — which is a far cry from their average of 75 percent from the free-throw line this season.
“If you shoot like that from the free throw line, especially down the stretch in a big game, things aren’t usually going to go your way,” Ohio forward Treg Setty said. “It wasn’t good that we missed our free throws like that and missed our easy buckets like that and that definitely contributed to the loss.”
Phillips said the Bobcats repetition of weaknesses shown earlier in the year, along with their “mental and physical breakdowns” was hard to see against one of the best team in the MAC.
Simmons — who has not had more than six turnovers in a game since Dec. 21 — had eight on the night. He would finish with seven points and eight assists.
Dambrot said he wanted the Zips to double Simmons at the top of the key and make the redshirt sophomore guard hesitant to make the traditional passes he was confident in making.
“That’s Akron, they hang their hat on defense,” Setty said. “We know they had their coach preparing for Jaaron and (Campbell)’s ball screen and they got up in us a little bit.”
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