Zeke Marshall blocks another nine shots in Toledo victory

I don't remember much about Lonnie Jones. He was a shot-blocking machine with Ball State at the turn of the century, one of those stalwarts in the middle when the Cardinals ran through top 10 teams Kansas and UCLA in back-to-back games. Jones was a 7-footer turned into a fringe NBA prospect. Marshall passed Jones on the all-time MAC blocks list last game and he's just going to push that record into new heights.

In Akron's 71-56 road win at Toledo tonight, Marshall had an incredible seven blocked shots in the first half compared to the Rockets' 10 made baskets. Marshall finished with nine blocked shots on the night to go with 18 points and eight rebounds, making it oh-so-close to a points-boards-blocks triple-double.

But Zeke is in a class by himself in terms of blocks. The last time someone in the MAC swatted nine shots away in a game was, well, himself, two years ago in the MAC Championship against Kent State. Prior to that, it was a different kind of Marshall: Thundering Herd center Latece Williams, who had nine blocks in November 2000. Mitchell Watt and Chris Kaman mustered 8-block games in recent years, and only Charles Smith's 11 blocks on January 7, 1987 for Ball State remains the conference record.

Still, Marshall's game completely overshadowed Alex Abreu's near double-double (11 points, nine assists) and Demetrius Treadwell's actual double-double (10 points, 11 assists), but all these performances are big reasons Akron is 5-0 in MAC play. And with continuous performances like this, the 7-foot Marshall might actually have a shot at being the first MAC player drafted since Brandon Hunter ten years ago.