Ohio moved to 13-5 on the year with a 76-67 win against Toledo Saturday at The Convo. The Bobcats are now 4-0 in Mid-American Conference play. Read our chronological coverage of the game below.
Pregame
Toledo could be considered a team full of road warriors, as it has played only four of its 15 games at its Savage Arena this season.
The Rockets (6-8, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) have struggled away from their home court, being that only three of their road games have fallen in their favor.
Ohio, on the other hand, has lost only once on its home court this season, and has held four consecutive opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.
The Bobcats (12-5, 3-0 MAC) will look to exploit the Rockets' shallow bench and subpar defensive play in the teams' first showdown since Ohio bested Toledo in the 2012 MAC Tournament.
Junior guard Rian Pearson is the Rockets' top player, as he averages more than 19 points and six rebounds per game — both team highs.
His running mate, sophomore guard Julius Brown, leads the MAC with a positive 5.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, and averages 14 points per game.
Ohio coach Jim Christian called the former one of the MAC's "marquee players," and said the latter is very quick off ball screens and acknowledged his ability to distribute the ball.
Ohio junior guard Nick Kellogg said the burden of shutting down Pearson and Brown is on the entire team's shoulders — not an individual defender.
"It’s a team responsibility to shut a guy down and keep him off the boards and stuff like that," he said.
The Bobcats will have their entire roster available for the game, as junior guard Travis Wilkins and sophomore forward Kadeem Green went through pregame warmups with the team without a visible hitch.
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a 13-point win against Northern Illinois, here. Read 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: redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, senior guard D.J. Cooper, Kellogg, and senior forwards Ivo Baltic and Reggie Keely.
The Bobcats started off the game with a bang, as Baltic tip-slammed a missed Offutt three for Ohio's first points of the game.
On Ohio's next possession, he dished to Keely down low for two more.
The Rockets matched Ohio's intensity, as they scored on their first three possessions.
Offutt took the reins from the perimeter early, as well. He hit two of his four three-point attempts in the first four minutes of play.
The Bobcats kept an 11-10 lead through the first four minutes of play, aided by a technical foul to Pearson, who mouthed off to a referee after he and Offutt got tangled up under the basket.
Junior guard Ricardo Johnson checked in for the Bobcats at the first media timeout, and redshirt junior forward Jon Smith did the same a minute later.
Johnson made his presence known right off the get-go by adjusting in mid-air after contact from Pearson and knocking down a jumper from the free throw line.
He made the extra shot to put Ohio ahead 20-15 with 13 minutes to play in the half.
Ohio junior forward T.J. Hall made his first appearance soon thereafter.
By the 11-minute mark, Cooper had made his way to the No. 21 spot on the all-time NCAA assist list.
Sophomore guard Stevie Taylor spelled him at that point, though, making his first appearance.
In Cooper's absence, the Rockets drew within four points of Ohio, and once he was inserted back into the game they tied the game at 24 leading into the first half's seven-minute mark.
The Bobcats reclaimed the lead with 6:45 remaining in the half, as Baltic pulled together a pretty post move and spun to the hoop for two.
After the Rockets bounced back with a layup from Brown, Keely did the same to give the Bobcats the edge once again.
Five straight Toledo points gave it a 33-30 advantage with four minutes on the clock, though.
The Rockets kept rolling from there, upping their lead to 36-30 inside the three-minute mark.
Keely broke the Rockets' eight-point run by making one of two free throws with two minutes remaining in the half.
He was the next Ohio player to score, too, as he turned an inside feed from Cooper into two points with a floater in the paint.
Halftime: Toledo 36, Ohio 33
For the first time since falling to UMass on Dec. 19, the Bobcats went into halftime trailing their opponent.
Ohio was led through the uptempo first half by the scoring effort of Keely, who had 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
Offutt had eight points for the Bobcats, while Baltic had six on perfect shooting.
Toledo forward Matt Smith had nine points on 4-for-4 shooting, while Brown and Pearson combined for 12 points on five-for-11 from the floor.
Ohio hit a pair of three-pointers in the first two minutes of play, but from that point on it hit none of its nine attempts.
Second Half
Ohio began the half with a pair of points off Keely free throws, and a long corner jumper from Baltic, all the while holding Toledo scoreless.
Offutt upped Ohio's lead to four with an and-one layup just less than two minutes into the half.
Baltic then made two free throw shots to up Ohio's run to eight points.
The Rockets fired back with five straight points of their own, but Keely converted the back end of an and-one layup to bring the Bobcats' lead back to four three minutes into the half.
Pearson brought the Rockets back within a point on a pair of free throw makes and a layup heading into the second half's first media timeout.
With just more than 13 minutes remaining, Keely topped his previous career-high point total. He had 21 on 8-for-8 shooting at that point. Ohio led 51-48.
The Bobcats took their largest lead of the game at the 11:30 mark, when they led by seven after a dunk from Baltic in transition and an Offutt steal-and-layup combination.
Ohio kept a four-point lead through the nine-minute mark, fueled by an offensive rebound and putback from Johnson with 9:30 to play.
Johnson then hit the Bobcats' first three since the game's opening two minutes to extend their lead.
After another pair of free throws from Johnson, Taylor hit a deep three with the shot clock winding down to bring the Bobcats' lead back to seven.
Ohio kept its lead at seven points through the four-minute mark.
Cooper and company stayed steady through the game's waning minutes, upping their lead to 10 points at the one-minute mark.
Toledo was unable to come within striking distance within the last minute of play, and Ohio emerged with a 76-67 win.
Final: Ohio 76, Toledo 67
The Bobcats remedied their shortcoming from Wednesday's win against Northern Illinois, finishing with a complete game effort instead of letting up late in the second half.
Ohio held Toledo at an arm's length for the entirety of the second half, and led by as much as 10 with a minute to play.
With the win, Ohio moved to 13-5 overall and 4-0 in conference play. Toledo fell to 6-9 and 2-2 in the MAC.
Statistics
Keely: 24 points on 9-of-9 shooting (career high)
Offutt: 14 points three assists, three rebounds, two steals
Baltic: 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, five rebounds, three assists
Johnson: 13 points (career high), six rebounds, three offensive rebounds
--------------
Smith: 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting
Pearson: 14 points, seven rebounds, seven turnovers
Buckley: 13 points, three rebounds, three assists
Reactions
"It was one of those games where you probably could have played better, especially in the first half defensively. But we responded in the second half (with) six straight stops to start the half." — Christian
"In MAC play, over the course of 16 games, if you want to be in the hunt, these are the ones you have to find a way to win." — Christian
"Everybody on the team has a lot of confidence in him, so I know he’ll knock it down or post up hard. He’s got great hands, so I’m not afraid to throw it down there." — Baltic, on Keely's play
"This is the stretch of the year where you have to do (extra.) You can’t be satisfied or complacent with what you’re doing. — Christian
"I just tried to give my team a lift any time I could … and fortunately I was knocking them down tonight. It’s a credit to my teammates for finding me in open spots and getting me in good positions to score the ball." — Keely
Twitter Notes
7,000-plus fans in two straight games shows the level of support for Ohio...
Keely and Johnson set career-highs in points. Excellent game from both...
Ohio turned the ball over only five times, which is a sign of improvement...
Cooper shot 1-for-7, but Christian said defense is more important...
Offutt came to play, and showed senior leadership at its finest...
Up Next
Ohio travels to Miami's Millett Hall Wednesday for the first of three games against its rival RedHawks this season.
Miami (7-9, 2-2 MAC) fell to Ohio in both of the teams' meetings last season, and lost to Eastern Michigan by seven points Saturday.
