The way Akron basketball coach Keith Dambrot sees it, there's only one problem with his team playing a game that tips off at midnight local time -- and 3 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
"I'm going to be ready for bed," Dambrot said.
A little caffeine will be in order as the Zips take the national stage for a game at Saint Mary's, a perennial West Coast Conference power, as part of ESPN's made-for-TV college basketball tipoff marathon. Both teams made the NCAA tournament last season and both are different this season but still have high expectations.
Both are 1-0, too, on the young season. The Zips beat Coastal Carolina, 72-63, last Friday night, and eight hours after the game gathered for their trip to the Cleveland airport, from which they flew to San Francisco. They'll return to Northeast Ohio on a 6:30 a.m. local time flight after the game at Saint Mary's.
"There's really nothing you can do to prepare for that midnight tip off but get there and get ready to play," Dambrot said. "The kids will be ready. They won't be fazed by it. The old guys like me, it might take me a while to get going."
Akron and Saint Mary's have been two of the nation's most consistent mid-major programs when it comes to winning in the regular season, winning a combined 430 games since 2004-05, though both are still waiting for a bigger breakthrough on the postseason stage. This game Tuesday -- or Monday, or whenever it is -- could end up being a big RPI game for both three-plus months from now.
"We're playing a good opponent -- big and strong, used to winning, typical Saint Mary's team," Dambrot said.
Expectations are high because Akron, again, doesn't look like a mid-major team when it takes the floor and has plenty of high-level talent. Post man Demetrius Treadwell is a Mid-American Conference Player of the Year candidate, and Nick Harney and Quincy Diggs bring experience, scoring and versatility.
Four Akron players -- Treadwell, Harney, Diggs and Jake Kretzer -- scored in double figures in the opener. Dambrot played 10 players, eight 13 minutes or more, and plans to continue to give his less experienced players opportunities to prove themselves. Diggs returns from a yearlong suspension and is battling through a quad bruise, but he can defend three spots and help at point guard while Carmelo Betancourt and junior-college transfer Nyles Evans battle for the starting point guard's job.
Saint Mary's is adjusting to life without point guard Matthew Dellavedova, who made the Cleveland Cavaliers as an undrafted free agent, but got 28 points and eight rebounds from 6'9 forward Brad Waldow in an 83-70 season-opening win over Louisiana Tech.
Akron has won 22 or more games in eight straight seasons and comes into this one having won 23 of 26 dating back to last winter. But what had been an outstanding season for the Zips ended on a sour note last March when point guard Alex Abreu was arrested for drug possession and subsequently kicked out of school, then Akron got blown out by VCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Seven-footer Zeke Marshall graduated, but the Zips bring back both talent and experience.
"We're still a young team for the most part, but we're capable of being a good team," Dambrot said. "We have spots to shore up, some roles to define. We need the point guard to be a general.
"We can be a good team. We've closed the book on last year -- good and bad. I like this group and I see potential. I think some guys are ready to take a leap. We'll see how many impact players we have. We're capable."
