An exclamation point will be put on Mid-American Conference play Saturday when time ticks down and the final buzzer sounds at Akron’s James A. Rhodes Arena, as this season’s conference slate has been a crash course in anticipation of the first of two matchups between the Bobcats and Zips.
Both teams are undefeated in MAC play and combine to lead the conference in more than half of its officially tabulated team statistics.
Needless to say, Ohio has been looking forward to Saturday for quite some time.
“I put a big circle on my calendar for these guys,” sophomore guard Stevie Taylor said of Ohio’s upcoming appointment with Akron.
The Zips (16-4, 7-0 MAC) have won 12 straight games and are undefeated on their home court. The Bobcats (15-5, 6-0 MAC) haven’t lost in more than a month, either, and have won each of their MAC road games after going winless away from The Convo in nonconference play.
The teams’ last three meetings have mustered a spread of different outcomes — the first of which was Ohio’s lone loss in its last five games against Akron.
The next two swung in Ohio’s favor — emphatically in the regular season and by a single point in the MAC Championship game.
As if the teams’ perfect conference records aren’t enough to fuel the teams’ fire, there is plenty of weight carried over from last season as well.
“Guys are pumped up and amped to play this game,” Ohio senior forward Reggie Keely said. “We wouldn’t have it any other way. We see them every time we go to the championship game — we beat them both years and I’m sure there is a lot of animosity their way, so it’s always a good game, a good show.”
Ohio will have to contend with the Zips’ commanding post presence, which Ohio coach Jim Christian calls the conference’s best.
The Zips pull down 38.2 rebounds, making them tied for the most in the MAC, and have nine players who shoot better than 40 percent from the floor.
And like Ohio, they are bolstered by the combination of a big man and point guard who can make plays from the perimeter, drive inside and distribute.
Akron junior guard Alex Abreu is second to Ohio senior D.J. Cooper in MAC assists per game, as he averages 5.8 to Cooper’s 8.2.
Senior center Zeke Marshall is Akron’s man in the middle, where he produces the vast majority of his and team-leading 13 points and 3.6 blocks per game.
He is the only player in the MAC who is more efficient from the floor than Keely, albeit marginally, as he leads Ohio’s big man in field goal percentage by a fraction of a percent.
Inconsequently, Keely will be one of the players taxed with slowing Marshall on Saturday.
He said getting defensive rebounds and running the floor quickly would be his main focus in his attempt to out-man Marshall.
“It’s important to make him work on both ends of the court, make him chase a lot of ball screens, get up and down the court,” Keely said. “The more we do that, the easier it will be on the defensive end to guard him (by) keeping him away from the basket when he’s winded.”
Still, the Zips are no slouches when it comes to getting their offense in motion, as they have fielded a conference-best 12.5 scoring margin on the season.
Ohio coach Jim Christian said the game will likely be decided by the intangibles that both teams possess and their respective abilities to execute in tight situations.
Saturday’s matchup might have been circled on both team’s calendars this season, but whichever unit fires on all cylinders will be the one that walks away with the “X” on its back and zero in the conference loss column.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
