Oregon St. Opens Diamond Head Classic Against Akron

Oregon St. (6-2) vs. Akron (5-2) / Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI / 2:30 3 PM HST (4:30 5 PM PST) / ESPNU / KEJO 1240 AM / KEX 1190 AM

Game Notes / Akron Basketball Page

Oregon St. plays their first game of the Diamond Head Classic against the Akron Zips from the MAC.

The game is the second of the tournament, and was likely to start much later than the originally posted start time of 2:30 HST (4:30 PST), due to an aggressive schedule unlikely to me met, given the way games are being called this season, with few games being completed in 2 hours. ESPNU has revised the schedule, and now plans coverage ot the Oregon St.-Akron game to start 1/2 hour later.

President Obama is expected to attend today's game as well.

The Zips come to Hawaii on a 4 game winning streak, with a 79-60 win over Detroit last Wednesday in their last outing.

Akron recovered from a slow start that left them down 30-21 at halftime with a 25-6 run to start the second half. Once ahead by double digits, the Zips never let the Titans get the margin into single digits over the final 10 minutes of the game.

6'7" senior forward Demetrius Treadwell, who leads Akron in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 14.6 points and 8.7 boards per game, padded both of those numbers against Detroit, with a 22 point, 13 rebound double double, which included going 12 of 15 at the line.

The Beavers last action was also last Wednesday, a 76-67 win over Towson at Gill Coliseum. Oregon St. had to overcome the ejection 8 minutes into the game of Roberto Nelson, their leading scorer, and the leading scorer in the Pac-12, for what was determined 10 minutes later to be a "flagrant 2" foul. The good news is that after review the next morning by the Pac-12 Conference offices, Nelson will not be subject to any further sanctions, and will be available to play today.

The other good news from that incident were that the Beavers collectively came together to overcome the disruption, and that Angus Brandt had a career best night. Brandt poured in 27 points to lead Oregon St., including scoring 7 of 9 points to start an 11-0 mid-second half run that was integral to keeping Towson at arm's length the rest of the game.

Akron is the definition of a mid-major; their 74 points per game both rank between 150th and 200th in the country, and their 46% shooting from the field lies just outside the top 100. Contrast with Oregon St. shooting 54% around the best in the country, which puts them, at 84.4 points per game, just outside the top 20 in scoring per game.

The winner will face the winner of the first game, between Iowa St. and George Mason, which was also on ESPNU, tomorrow morning, at or shortly after 11:30 AM HST (1:30 PM PST), while the losers will meet really early, at 9:30 AM HST (11:30 AM PST). Both of those games will be on ESPNU.

Oregon St. should prevail if they can hold their own rebounding, and play decent defense; Akron is not a high assist team (outside the top 220), so they won't be looking to make the extra pass. Support from the football team should lend some home-feel for the Beavers in what likely won't be a hugely attended contest as well.

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com