Ohio fell to Robert Morris by a score of 84-76 Saturday on the road. The Bobcats moved to 6-1 on the year with the defeat. Read our chronological coverage of the game below.
Pregame
History favors the home team in Ohio's first road game of the season.
Robert Morris holds the upper hand in the teams' all-time series, as it has walked away victorious in five of their nine meetings, including each of the last three.
The Colonials (3-4) have also seen success against the Bobcats (6-0), of late, winning each of their past three games with Ohio.
Robert Morris has squeaked out each of their wins against Ohio during the current players' tenure, though, taking them by a combined eight points.
The Colonials have had varied levels of success this season, topping Cleveland State and Bowling Green most recently by a combined score of 18 points.
They fell to Savannah State Monday by nine points. One notable loss is a two-point defeat to Xavier on Nov. 17.
The Colonials are led offensively by redshirt senior guard Velton Jones, who averages more than 14 points per game. Lucky Jones, a sophomore forward and guard, is their only other player that averages more than 10 per game.
Four Ohio players average double figures in the points category.
The Bobcats are fresh off their first late-game triumph of the season, in which they knocked off a surging St. Bonaventure squad down the stretch to retain their perfect record.
Ohio coach Jim Christian is looking for his 200th career win against the Colonials.
The Bobcats will be without the services of junior guard Ricardo Johnson, who attended shootaround with the team, but donned warmups instead of his uniform leading into the game.
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a five-point win against St. Bonaventure, here. Read basketball beat reporter Jim Ryan's game preview here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
Ohio's starters are as follows: Senior guard D.J. Cooper, redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, junior guard Nick Kellogg, senior forward Ivo Baltic and redshirt junior forward Jon Smith.
The Bobcats began the game by winning the opening tip, but were held scoreless on their first three possessions on a trio of missed shots.
The Colonials were the first to make their impression on the stat sheet, as they knocked down a pair of quick jumpers to gain the lead.
Baltic began the game with a pair of turnovers for Ohio, as well.
Robert Morris went ahead 5-0 three minutes into the game after cashing in on one of three free throws from redshirt senior guard Velton Jones, who was fouled by Smith while going up for a three-pointer.
Offutt brought the Bobcats within two on their following possession, though, draining a three-pointer from the wing on a dish from Cooper.
The Colonials made it known early that they were intent on being very active defensively. Their strength in defending Ohio is forcing it to move the ball quickly and concisely in the half court.
Ohio senior forward Reggie Keely checked in at the 16-minute mark and scored on his first touch — an inside pass from Cooper.
The Colonials came back with an easy inside two of their own on the next play, bringing the score to 7-5 in their favor with 15 minutes remaining in the half.
Ohio junior guard Travis WIlkins checked in at that point, as well.
His man, sophomore guard David Appleton, hit a three on his first defensive play, though.
Offutt balanced things out with a triple from the wing on the next play, however, bringing the score to 12-8 in the Colonials' favor.
Baltic unloaded a nice post move on the Bobcats' next trip down the floor, but the Colonials continued to be hot from beyond the arc, knocking down their third of the game before the 12:30 mark in the first half.
Stevie Taylor, a sophomore guard, checked in for Ohio at that point.
Before Cooper caught his breath on the bench Ohio trailed by 11 points, as the Colonials took charge with three straight threes and corresponding stops on the defensive end.
The Colonials continued to build upon their lead, mounting it to 26-11 before Ohio was able to put more points on the board. Cooper failed to cash in on an and-one opportunity with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
The score read 26-12 at that point.
The Colonials fired back with yet another punch from beyond the arc — this time from velton Jones.
The Bobcats also had accumulated seven fouls by the seven-minute mark. They were also outshot by more than 40 percent at that point, as the Colonials knocked down more than 70 percent of their shots in the half's first 13 minutes.
Offutt gave Ohio a potential spark with 6:33 remaining in the half, poking free a loose ball and taking it the distance of the court for a layup, on which he was fouled.
He made one of two foul shots to bring the score to 31-15.
Keely forced a turnover on RMU's ensuing drive, but the Bobcats were not able to make good of their opportunity.
Taylor hit a three — only the Bobcats' second in eight attempts — to bring the Colonials' lead to 11 with 3:43 remaining in the opening half.
Taylor ran the floor after a block in the post by Smith and made his way to the free throw line after being fouled on a layup attempt.
Cooper checked back into the game at that point, giving the Bobcats their first Cooper-Taylor beckcourt set of the season.
It was fooled on the Colonials' next trip down the floor, though, as Smith was beat blatently for an easy dunk.
Taylor hit a three from the opposing wing on his next touch, though, to bring the Colonials' lead to 10 with two minutes remaining.
Baltic hit a three with 1:30 on the clock to combat a pair of foul shots the Colonials made on their previous trip down the floor. The score read 37-28 with 1:11 left in the half.
Taylor hit another three with less than 45 seconds remaining in the half to bring the contingent of Bobcat fans to their feet.
Ohio closed out the half with a steal from Taylor, who was called for traveling. The Colonials were unable to cash in on the play, though, as they were whistled for a player control foul.
With four seconds left, Ohio made an three-point from well beyond the arc, but it fell short.
Halftime: Robert Morris 37, OHIO 31
Ohio shot only 38 percent from the field in the first half, while the Colonials put home well more than half their attempts, including six of 10 from three-point range.
The Colonials cashed in 11 points on six Ohio turnovers, while the Bobcats turned their nine forced mishandles into only six points.
Karvel Anderson led the Colonials with 14 points on five-of-five shooting in the first half, while Velton Jones had eight points of his own.
Taylor was Ohio's most effecient scorer, as he hit three of his four attempts from the floor for 11 points. Offutt, who drained two of three from long range, was second-in-command for the Bobcats with nine points.
Ohio hit six of its 11 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half.
Second Half
The Colonials began the half with a short jumper from Anderson, and came up empty on its second trip down the floor. However, the ball went out of bounds off an RMU player, and Kellogg hit a three on the ensuing inbound pass.
Smith had a powerful block on the other end of the floor, which led to a fast-break three-point opportunity for Offutt, who left it short.
Ohio trailed 39-34 with 18:25 remaining in the game.
Anderson picked right up where he left off after the break, netting a pair of early three-pointers and a mid-range jumper for the Colonials.
Offutt hit a three-pointer, and Smith slammed home a dunk to combat the barrage of threes, bringing the score to 46-39 in RMU's favor.
Baltic capitalized on a fast break feed from Cooper on their next transition trip, bringing the Colonials' lead back to five with 16 minutes remaining.
Ohio junior forward T.J. Hall checked in to make his first appearance of the second half with 15:30 remaining, as Christian went with the Cooper and Taylor backcourt once again.
Kellogg was put back into the game soon thereafter, where he was called upon for a three from the corner. He missed the shot, however, and Anderson took the rebound the length of the court for a strong drive to the basket, from which he scored and was fouled by Offutt.
He converted the opportunity, and Offutt was sat down because of his third personal foul.
Kellogg hit a three from the wing to bring the score back within eight at the 13-minute mark. The Colonials cashed in on a pair of free throws soon thereafter, however, to bump the margin back to 10.
Cooper slashed his way through the lane and onto the line for two free throw attempts with 12 minutes to go in the game. He made one of them, bringing the score to 55-45.
After collecting a missed three-point attempt on the other end of the floor, Smith fed Cooper, who once again drove his way to the baseline and was fouled.
After inbounding the ball, Cooper was fouled and sent to the line, from which he made both of his attempts to bring the score to 55-48 with 11 minutes left.
Anderson and Cooper traded three-pointers inside the game's 11-minute mark, after which the score read 58-52 in Robert Morris' favor.
With 9:34 to play, Baltic and Offutt checked back into the game for what appeared to be the long haul. Both players had three fouls at that point.
Ohio cashed in a pair of quick buckets in transition to bring the score back within five by the 8:30 mark.
The Bobcats, who were in the bonus well earlier in the half, allowed Velton Jones to go to the free throw line not long after, though, from which he made both shots.
Cooper was called for traveling on an ensuing three-point attempt, keeping Ohio at arm's length inside the eight-minute mark.
Offutt picked up his fourth foul on the next possession, and Christian sat him down in favor of Hall with just more than seven minutes left in the game.
Baltic brought the score within five once again with a three from the wing on a dish from Wilkins around the 6:30 mark.
Keely muscled in a layup with five minutes left in the game to give the Bobcats their closest margin of the second half. They trailed by four points — 67-63.
However, Russell Johnson drained a three from the wing on the Colonials' next trip down the floor to bring their advantage back to seven points.
Kellogg fired back with a three of his own, though, quieting the small but raucous RMU crowd, if only a bit.
After a pair of Robert Morris free throws, the Bobcats trailed 72-66 with 3:30 on the clock.
Cooper drained another three to bring the Colonials' lead to three with 2:41 left in the game. However, he reached in a bit too much on the following defensive play and was whistled for a foul, which put the Colonials ahead by five once again.
He earned the points back with a drive to the hoop for two on Ohio's next possession.
Coron WIlliams knocked down a momentous three-pointer with five seconds on the shot clock to widen RMU's lead to six. Cooper hit a couple of free throw shots to bring the margin back to four, though.
Anderson hit another three to widen the margin to seven — 80-73 — which would do Ohio in for good.
Keely drained one of two free throws with 43 seconds remaining, but the Bobcats were forced to foul after his miss, putting WIlliams back on the line.
He missed both, and Cooper ran the length of the floor to pour in two more points, bringing the lead to 82-76 in RMU's favor.
The Bobcats had one more shot at bridging the gap, but Hall was unable to convert on a drive under the rim, and Ohio was once again forced to foul.
A couple of conversions later the score read 84-76 in RMU's favor, as it would stay.
Final: Robert Morris 84, Ohio 76
The Bobcats were unable to overcome a six-point halftime deficit, falling to Robert Morris in dramatic fashion. Christian said the Bobcats were unable to keep the Colonials off the free throw line, which, along with their ability to penetrate and dish to the perimeter, led to Ohio's first loss of the season.
Statistics
Cooper: 19 points, 10 assists, one turnover
Offutt: 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals
Taylor: 11 points, two steals
Baltic: 10 points, three rebounds, two assists
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Anderson: 28 points on 10-of-10 shooting, 8-for-8 from three, four rebounds
Johnson: 14 points, four rebounds, two assists
Velton Jones: 12 points, seven assists
Reactions
"...That’s what you have to do when you’re in dogfights with good teams like this. You have to make key plays and stop what they’re good at. We didn’t stop the three-point ball tonight." — Offutt, on making key plays down the stretch and limiting the three-point ball
"We lost him early a couple times and he got some clean looks. From there, he got it going." — Christian, on Anderson's hot shooting
"I feel like we didn’t do the job we needed to do defensively, as far as closing out, being in position. It’s their gym, their arena, refs — it just kind of plays out that way on the road and you have to find ways to win." — Offutt, on Robert Morris' frequent trips to the free throw line
"Some nights you might run into somebody and he has an unbelievable night, but you can’t compound it by fouling. There were other positions that were just as big. At the end of the day, they hit 12 threes and we hit 13. It was the fouling." — Christian, on Ohio's inability to adapt to the way the game was being called
"I thought we did a great job of kicking the ball out and getting wide open shots for ourselves. And then we started attacking the rim at the end once we started making some. It had zero to do with offense tonight. Zero. If you have 76 points on the road, you should win." — Christian, on attempting 31 three-pointers, of which Ohio made 13
"I thought it was some matchups in transition, a step late on a couple closeouts, I thought it was penetration — we sucked the defenders in and they kicked it out — it was the whole thing. But it really came down to one-on-one defense. Our one-on-one defense was awful." — Christian, on Ohio's defensive effort
Twitter Notes
One of Offutt's postgame remarks was very telling...
More than anything, Ohio was hurt by fouls...
Karvel Anderson was downright dynamite...
Cooper didn't get the chance to make that big play in the end...
Christian: "The sky's not falling..."
Up Next
Ohio will hit the road once again Wednesday to face Memphis. The Tigers are are 4-2 on the year, having lost to Minnesota and VCU in back-to-back games in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The Tigers will have not played since routing University of Tennessee-Martin by 28 points Monday.
