That kangaroo is what the University of Akron uses for its mascot, but only because a zip — short for zipper — would not be cool.

You should know, though, that the zipper you’re thinking of — the on on your slacks or coats — is not today what it was back then. The zipper was a pair of rubber overshoes you wore in rain or snow when you wanted to keep your feet dry. Akron being the rubber capital of the world, Akron being where zippers were popularized, the connection was made and Akron became the Zippers.

That beat out a list of possibilities, including the Golden Blue Devils, Hillbillies, Tip Toppers, Rubbernecks and Cheveliers.

Then the button fly went out of style and the zipper took its place and Akron had a perception problem to address. The school shortened the nickname to the Zips in 1950. Three years later, Zippy the Kangaroo became the official mascot and people were not happy with the explanation that the kangaroo had the speed, agility, power and “undying determination” that all student-athletes should strive to exhibit.

It remains one of the most usual college mascots going … and is one of eight female mascots in college sports. I dare you to name the others.

(And yes, I’m from Ohio.)

Game tips in five minutes.

7:01: Holy crap, there’s no one here. This is at the tip.

7:11: WVU leads 10-6 and Truck has made both of his 3s, but also missed a driving, contested layup to groans.

7:18: And Truck takes about 20 seconds off the shot clock and moved Kilicli and then Jones out of the paint and decided to drive to the basket, where he encounters Akron’s 7-foot-center Zeke Marshall. ,Truck misses everything. Akron misses after Huggins angrily motions Gary Browne off the bench and to the scorer’s table and Truck goes a the basket again and misses again, but KJ rebounds, misses, rebounds and watched his second shot roll off the rim as he’s fouled. WVU up 12-10 as KJ awaits two free throws after the timeout — and Kilicli missed a pair a few moments ago.

7:23: Gary Brown drives left into the lane, stops, spins right and lofts a righty hook up and in. I did not know he could do that.

7:25: WVU has given up a pair of tip dunks and the offender on the second, Aaron Brown, let his man dribble drive on the next possession and dish at the basket for an easy layup. Huggins calls timeout and is yanking Brown before the whistle fades away. WVU up 20-14 with 9:26 to go and Browne and Hinds getting inside when they please.

7:26: And out of the timeout, Browne steps inside the 3-point line and misses a jumper. I doubt that was the plan.

7:28: Noreen came in during the timeout and lasted 42 seconds before he got the hook. Huggins not messing around here tonight.

7:32: Happy birthday, Stacey Quinlan.

7:33: WVU forced a turnover and runs a set and Miles throws the ball to about five people. Three of them duck away from the ball and it goes out off a WVU player. Miles takes a seat for Tom McCune … and I’ll say it: Big opportunity here for McCune.

7:34: Big ticks for Forsythe, too. Kilicli has two fouls with 6:20 left and takes a seat to a greeting from Huggins, who is just on fire tonight. Forsythe seems pretty confident in the post and already has a second-chance basket. It’s 23-16.

7:37: Refs call a foul on Akron, give WVU 1-and-1 even though WVU isn’t in the bonus. Play resumes and the refs call a foul on Akron that Akron can’t believe. KJ goes 1-for-2 and it’s 24-16. WVU is 4-for-8 at the free-throw line.

7:40: Truck, fresh off an air ball 3, gets fouled and goes 0-for-1 and Huggins beckons Browne. This is fun.

7:40: Truck gets his second foul before he can get to the bench.

7:41: Huggins spent the Akron free throws wearing out Pat Driscoll and then gets a tech. The crowd that is here boos and does its very original cheer, then cheers for real when Brian Walsh misses two free throws. He was 4-for-4 this year. I’ll protect the identities, but on press row one person predicted that T and a second doesn’t like Huggins’ chances of making the final 24 minutes.

7:44: Sheesh, Browne back dribbles, crossover dribbles and skates into the paint. Beautiful move, but Marshall saw it all the way and swatted the ball off the backboard. At the under four timeout, it’s 24-18 and Akron hasn’t done much in the realm of shot-making as WVU has struggled.

7:46: Jon Curran really tried to get a free T-shirt during the timeout. No dice.

7:47: McCune 0-1 in the bonus. KJ misses the offensive rebound, but Forsythe tips it in. Hinds steals the ball in the backcourt and get two points when Adedeji Ibitayo goaltends the layup. That was fast…28-18.

7:48: Akron can’t handle Browne and Hinds, who used a tornado spin to get inside. He’s fouled and goes 1-for-2.

7:49: Steal Browne (with help from Noreen), assist to Hinds. Steal Hinds and McCune had his moment, but missed an open 3. Suddenly not so close here at 31-18 … hit me with the chords, White Stripes!

7:50: Students can’t handle 7NA.

7:52: Hinds makes a 3, Akron’s 10 point, five rebound forward Nikola Cvetinovic gets called for an offensive foul for his third of the half and then gets a T for arguing. Silly play, big fella. Akron doubled up now 36-18 and without a good player for a long stretch of the second half since NC now has four fouls.

7:54: And Akron Coach Keith Dambrot gets a T for voicing his opinion.

7:56: Hinds is unstoppable right now. A flurry of jumpers, drives and assists to end the half. It’s 43-20 and he had 15 points, . WVU closed the half with 15 unanswered points in a 19-2 run. That’ll do, Zips. That’ll do.

8:01: Press row, everyone.

Yes, Barney is asleep.

8:12: Akron didn’t have a basket in the final 9:30. WVU had a 19-2 run after the T on Huggins and Jabarie Hindshad 12 of the 19 points. Can’t wait for the inevitable “Did Coach fire you up with that T?” queries. I might puke.

8:17: Zeke Marshal takes a seat with four fouls with 17:30 to go … and WVU was already getting to the basket with not trouble. Kilcili gets his fourth a few seconds later … and his second already this half.

8:19: Keaton Miles is now 2-for-11 this season after that tricky layup. Missed the free the free throw, but we’re taking baby steps here.

8:26: And WVU is already in the bonus with 14:24 left to play.

8:28: We’re getting silly now. Hinds with a runout pass to Truck, who no-looks to KJ for a dunk. A dunk!

8:33: At 55-36, we’re in experimental mode and on a possession that ended with Kilicli attempting a layup, WVU turns the ball over with a shotclock violation.

8:38: Zips getting a little chippy. Just a little. Cvetinovic had his shot stuffed by Jones, then set three very hard picks later in the same possession. McClanahan made a 3, but Driscoll stopped the game to calm down Akron’s Quicy Diggs, who was then benched. Let’s keep an eye on this.

8:40: Truck has his eyes open and makes a quick pass inside to Deniz, who makes a very ordinary catch and dunk … and that thrills the crowd, which isn’t used to this dunk slamming thing

8:42: Marshall fouls out on a weak call and I’m not sure Dambrot is going to see the end of this one.

8:50: Head down now, writing the game story, but Hinds sits, probably for the rest of the way, with 19 points. It’ll be interesting to see if this was a one-game thing against a team with slow guards, or if Hinds and Brown can do the dribbling and the driving consistently and if that can let Bryant play the off guard spot.

8:54: Curious if Huggins loses any credibility in the hearts and minds of the casual, on-the-fence fans out there. Not that he’s done anything wrong, but he’s been very critical of the fans and the attendance and he’s consistently talked up his schedule and his opponents — and Akron was right up there, especially after Akron beat Mississippi State and seemed aligned to be a lot better than what we saw tonight. This has been over for 30 minutes in a 40-minute game. That’s not going to open eyes to the worthiness of a Miami or Tennessee Tech later this season or some other non-conference teams in the future, right?

8:58: “We want Paul!” chants. That and an alley oop are all that remains for the fans tonight.

8:59: Missed the flagrant foul that disqualified Josh Egner … but I’ll say I called it. It’s been feisty for a while.

9:01: Nique Rutledge enters. He’s going to try to dunk. Also, I’m actually impressed Cvetinovic hasn’t  esploded. I don’t know anything about him. It might be wholly unlike him. But he’s been percolating for a long time and hasn’t really expressed it.

9:02: Paul! He plays! Nique sits. A 3 from Paul makes the fans happy.

9:06: McCune has made a mess of the last few minutes. Nique is back and I bet Aaric Murray gets in before McCune does.

9:07: They run an inbound play for Paul and he rims out a 3 as the crowd dies just a little. Refs haven’t quit, by the way.

9:09: And we’re done … 77-56. Story up later.