BOWLING GREEN — Rodney Culver saw an opening and drove to the lane. He was going for it. Ohio was already up 22.
Culver rose, hands flying forward for a would-be ferocious, two-handed slam. He missed.
As the ball flew in the air and the Stroh Center jeered, Kenny Kaminski stood wide open for a 3-pointer off the rebound — which hit nothing but net.
It was that kind of afternoon for Ohio, who had bounced to its way with depth that couldn't be contained, en route to an 96-72 blowout victory Saturday over Bowling Green.
“Offensively we’re in a good way right now, we really are," coach Saul Phillips said. "The ball is really moving. We’re playing out of our base offense, and we’ve got things we can do in special situations. When the majority of the game you're just running your base, everybody gets touches. We got good looks today.”
Jaaron Simmons scored a season-high 23 points, but it wasn't just Simmons that was a thorn in the side of the Falcons. He was flanked by Jordan Dartis, Kaminski and Culver, who added 16, 22 and 13 points, respectively.
It was a firing squad, of sorts, beyond the arc for the Bobcats, too. They shot 18-35 from 3, aided by Kaminski's 7-of-10 performance from deep.
“They were in man-to-man first, then after he (Simmons) went crazy, they switched to zone and I had two or three 3’s right away," Kaminski said. "They were all sorts of messed up after that. Jaaron’s impact on tonight’s game was incredible.”
The depth of Ohio (13-6, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) couldn't be contained, partly because Bowling Green didn't have the depth to even field a full unit.
Bowling Green (8-13, 2-6 MAC) had four players suspended for the game, and with two others injured, the Falcons were left with just six scholarship players. They relied on the help of the only place they could look: the football team.
At one point in the second half, the Falcons had a tight end and wide receiver on the floor, not two forwards. It showed.
The Falcons shot just 33.3 percent from the field. The football players, Hunter Folkerstema and Teo Redding, scored 11 points combined. They were the third and fourth leading scorers, respectively.
“I thought it was a rumor at first, I didn’t even know they were allowed to do that," Simmons said. "Football players came in, they scored! But I guess that’s a fun experience for them. I’m just happy we got the win.”
Depth, or lack thereof, aside, the Bobcats thoroughly dominated the Falcons. Bowling Green led for just 59 seconds and had 21 of its points come from the free-throw line. Ohio had just two points at the line.
But with Antonio Campbell's absence drifting farther from memory, the Bobcats have adjusted their offensive game to be a more motion-based, quick-shot style approach. To say it worked against the Falcons would be an understatement.
"We had 16 assists, they only had nine. That’s pretty good. I’ll take 16 assists a game," Kaminski said. "That’s ball movement at its finest.”
The same Bobcats squad, which had lost three of their last four rebounded with fury, and with rainmaking shots, against a depleted Falcons squad. Ohio's depth shined to a point where one might think they weren't missing a defending MAC Player of the Year, but rather numerous were waiting in the wings.
“We’re going to be completive, we haven't wavered from that," Phillips said. "Now the path isn't as straightforward as it was before? No. I still don't think anyone in this league is untouchable. I think we can do some things, our margin of error is smaller. We shoot like this on any given night, we’re going to be around.”
