By MIKE BROWN Sports Writer on Feb 16, 2012, at 7:14 PM Updated on 2/16 at 7:14 PM
ORU SPORTS
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By Mike Brown
World Sports Writer
The Akron Zips might be a better basketball team than their record shows, head coach Keith Dambrot said. And the record looks pretty good.
The Zips have won eight straight games and 16 of their last 18. They’re 19-7 overall and sit atop the Mid-American Conference standings, heading into Saturday’s BracketBusters clash with Oral Roberts University at the Mabee Center.
“We might be a little misleading to the prognosticators because we had some issues early that caused us to have a slow start,” Dambrot said. “We had injuries and suspensions that caused us to lose some early games we might have been able to win.”
The Zips had losses at West Virginia, Valparaiso, Middle Tennessee and Cleveland State in a 3-5 start.
They also won at Mississippi State 68-58 by holding Arnett Moultrie to eight points. The 6-foot-11 Moultrie is fourth in SEC scoring at 16.8 points per game, and the Bulldogs are 19-7 and No. 23 in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll.
Since Dec. 10, Akron’s only losses are at home by one point in overtime to Virginia Commonwealth, an NCAA Final Four team last year, and by 13 at Buffalo, which is 16-7 overall and tied for third in the MAC at 9-3.
But like ORU, the Zips are wondering if they will be outside looking in at the Big Dance if they win the regular-season MAC title but not the conference tournament.
ORU is 24-5 overall and clinched the Summit League regular-season title with Wednesday’s 75-71 win at IPFW.
ORU's conference hasn't squeezed a second team into the tournament since 1991. Bracketology experts generally seem to agree that the Eagles have no more than an outside shot at an at-large berth, despite ORU being 47 in the Ratings Percentage Index.
Akron is even lower at 62. A win over ORU would help, but Dambrot said his players can’t put all their eggs in that basket because they face a difficult closing MAC schedule.
“Saturday’s game is important, but we’ve got to stay on an even keel,” he said.
Starting with ORU, the Zips are set up to face four top-100 RPI teams in their final five regular-season games, and are likely to play at least two more in the conference tournament.
Dambrot has faced ORU twice in the Scott Sutton coaching era, winning in 2006 and again last season. The Eagles lost 84-80 at Akron in January 2011, the first of four games that Dominique Morrison was out with a knee injury.
“I know a little about (ORU). Our teams are similar. Like them, were a little bigger and more athletic than a lot of the teams we’re playing,” Dambrot said.
Arkon emphasizes defense and has a tower of power in the middle in 7-foot junior Zeke Marshall, who ranks eighth nationally with 3.2 blocked shots per game.
Marshall had four blocks and scored 12 points against the Eagle last season, and was huge against Mississippi State and the 6-foot-11 Moultrie in November, blocking five shots.
“We’re pretty good when (Marshall’s) on the floor and staying out of foul trouble," Dambrot said. “Arnett Moultrie is one of the the most talented power forwards in the country and he couldn’t get to the rim against us. He couldn’t score over (Marshall).”
-- Mike Brown
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