Saturday, November 21st, 1:15 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Ocean Center (8,362) -- Daytona Beach, Florida. Television: None. Home Record: Akron 0-1, Drake 0-2. Away Record: Akron 0-0, Drake 0-0. Neutral Record: Akron 0-1, Drake 1-0. Conference Record: Akron 0-0, Drake 0-0. Series Record: Drake leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: Still searching for their first win in this young season the Akron Zips will take to the court to battle the Drake Bulldogs in the third round of the Glenn Wilkes Classic at the Ocean Center.

It has been a rough start to the year for the Zips, who have opened a new season with two straight losses for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign. The most recent setback for Akron was an embarrassing, 66-45 loss to NC State. After this tournament however, the Zips will return home to host seven of their next eight games.

As for the Bulldogs, they began their season with back-to-back losses, but the team finally found the win column in its last matchup, defeating Georgia State, 65-58. Drake is coming off a mediocre 2008-09 season in which the team finished with a 17-16 record.

This will be the third time these two schools have collided on the hardwood. The first two matchups went in favor of the Bulldogs.

The Zips were clearly overmatched in their recent loss to NC State, as the team shot a miserable 30.9 percent from the field, and made just 4-of-19 attempts from behind the arc, and only 7-of-18 shots from the foul line. Anthony Hitchens was the only player in double figures for Akron, as he came off the bench to post 10 points. So far, Hitchens has been the most consistent player on the roster, and the only player to score in double figures in both matchups (12 points against Austin Peay). Chris McKnight, who scored 11 points in the opener, struggled in the loss to the Wolfpack, netting just four points on a 1-of-6 effort from the field. If Akron is going to win, and win often, the team will need to play much better offensively.

After allowing over 80 points in both of their first two contests, the Bulldogs clamped down defensively against Georgia State, and held the Panthers to just 58 points on a mere 32.8 percent shooting effort. With the solid defensive the team did not need to produce at a highly level offensively, which is good considering the team finished with just 65 points. However, Drake did shoot a sizzling 59.5 percent from the field and also connected on 14-of-17 foul shots. Ryan Wedel, who is leading the team with 17.0 ppg, paced the Bulldogs in the win over Georgia State with 15 points, while Seth VanDeest added 13 points and Ben Simons and Josh Young chipped in 10 points apiece. Simons is currently second on the squad with 15.3 ppg, while Young has done a little of everything, posting 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.0 apg.

Now that Drake has finally found the win column the team should remain there, at least for this matchup. The Zips have been far too inconsistent and until they can find solid play offensively, Akron will not collect in this tournament.

Predicted Outcome

Drake 68, Akron 59