Courtesy: Ernie Aranyosi Akron senior forward Chris McKnight has averaged 10.0 points and 5.2 rebounds over the last 5 games.

GAME 22

Eastern Michigan (10-10, 2-5 MAC) at Akron (15-6, 5-2 MAC)

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010
7 p.m. ET
Rhodes Arena (5,500)
Akron, Ohio

Television: Fox Sports Ohio/Detroit – Michael Reghi (play-by-play) and Steve Mix (analyst).

Webcast/Audio Stream/Live Statistics: Webcast and audio stream through ZipsZone subscription, live statistics free of charge.

Radio: Akron-ISP Sports Network – SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron and through ZipsZone subscription on GoZips.com. Steve French (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (analyst) (6:30 p.m. ET airtime).

Akron Coach Keith Dambrot (Akron '82):
Is in his sixth season at the helm for the Zips, maintaining a 130-57 (.695) mark in that time. Both his win total and win percentage rank third all-time in program history (178 wins is second). Dambrot is 238-127 (.652) in his 12th season as a collegiate head coach. He is 10-1 all-time versus Eastern Michigan (7-0 as coach at Akron).

The Series: The all-time series is tied, 17-17, but Akron has claimed seven-straight match ups, with the last Eastern Michigan victory in the series coming on Feb. 7, 2004 in Ypsilanti. Akron posted a 78-41 win at EMU's Convocation Center in last season's lone meeting (Feb. 3, 2009). The Zips have won five-straight tilts at Rhodes Arena, including a 78-66 win in the first round of the MAC Tournament on March 7, 2005. EMU's last win in Akron occurred on Jan. 7, 2002 (61-60).
 
Up Next: Akron competes for the third time in five days when it welcomes Northern Illinois to Rhodes Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
    • Akron, the MAC East Division co-leader along with Kent State, is playing for the second time in three days and is in the midst of three-game five-day homestand, which concludes on Wednesday when Northern Illinois visits.
    • UA is no stranger to playing games in quick succession this season. The Zips faced back-to-back one-day turnarounds from Dec. 18-22 (went 4-0 in that stretch), and also played on three-consecutive dates in the Glenn Wilkes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Nov. 20-22) (went 2-1 in that stretch).
    • The Zips have won three of their last four games, and are 15-4 after opening the season 0-2. UA's early season rally included a season-long, six-game win streak that tied for the best victory stretch by a MAC team thus far this season (Northern Illinois had a six-game streak end on Jan. 23).
    • Akron is 74-10 at Rhodes Arena under sixth-year head coach Keith Dambrot (10-2 overall, 3-0 MAC this season). The Zips have won 35 of their last 39 MAC home games and 65 of the last 74 overall outings on their home floor. UA went 11-3 (6-2 MAC) at home in 2008-09.
    • UA has won a MAC-best 15 games and is the only team in the league to have ended its non-conference schedule with 10 wins (10-4).   
    • The Zips have won four-straight and nine of their last 10 home games against MAC opponents (dating to last season). The loss in that span came to Bowling Green 50-46 on March 1, 2009.
    • The Zips are ranked No. 20 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 (comes out each Monday throughout the season). The squad was ranked No. 8 in the poll's preseason edition and was listing No. 18 last week.
    • Akron leads the league in field goal percentage (44.7 percent) and scoring margin (+7.9); while also ranking second in scoring defense (allowing 62.2 ppg, among top 50 nationally) and field goal percentage defense (allowing 40.3 percent), and third in 3-point field goal percentage defense (allowing 32.4 percent).   
    • UA has held nine opponents to 59 or fewer points this season (going 9-0 in those games) and has kept two league foes to under 50 points (topped Miami 69-49 on Jan. 20, Bowling Green 71-45 on Jan. 9 and Toledo 59-45 on Saturday). Six Zips' foes have scored over 70 points (UA is 2-4 in those games).
    • The Zips have held MAC opponents under 55 points in nine of their last 10 home games, including seven straight (the exception came versus Western Michigan 87-63 on Feb. 8, 2009). Akron is 9-1 in those contests (loss came to Bowling Green 50-46 on March 1, 2009).
    • Akron has held the advantage on the boards 15 times this season, but has not done so in three-straight games and had a five-game streak of doing so snapped at Kent State (Jan. 23). UA is 11-4 this season when it outrebounds an opponent and is 6-0 when it outboards a foe by double digits.
    • The Zips average 6.9 3-pointers made per game (fourth in the MAC) and have made eight or more treys nine times and nine or more on six occasions. UA converted 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) versus Toledo on Saturday after hitting 8-of-16 at Western Michigan (Jan. 27). UA has made a 3-pointer in 292-straight games.
    • Akron, the defending MAC Tournament champion, was picked to finish first in the MAC's East Division and was also selected as the league's overall preseason favorite (19 first-place votes) and conference tournament winner (19 votes) in a poll of league media.