Ohio fell to Akron Saturday on the road by a score of 86-72 to move to 15-6 on the year and 6-1 in Mid-American Conference play. Follow our chronological coverage of the game below.
Pregame
After hitting a three-pointer in the first half of Ohio's home rout of Akron last season, then-freshman guard Stevie Taylor strutted back past the Zips' bench and flashed his signature celebratory salute — a thumb and pointer finger curled to show three fingers, meant to signify the drained shot from downtown.
Ohio took a 19-point lead into the break en route to its first of two wins against Akron last season, including a one-point escape in the Mid-American Conference Championship.
"That's the way I play the game," Taylor said. "They're just going to have to live with that and see what happens on Saturday."
Past performances aside, there's plenty of kindling to fuel the Bobcats' fire Saturday when they take the court against the Zips (16-4, 7-0 MAC) at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Ohio (15-5, 6-0 MAC) is the holder of a seven-game win streak, and has taken five of the past six against Akron.
However, the Zips are one a 12-0 tilt — the second-best current streak in the NCAA, and are undefeated at home on the year.
Ohio coach Jim Christian, who is quite familiar with Akron coach Keith Dambrot from his time coaching cross-town rival Kent State, said it will be imperative for the Bobcats to hit the glass hard against the conference's best rebounding team.
"Obviously their interior game is the best in the league," Christian said. "They have the most depth, the most size, (and are) the most productive, so that's a huge challenge."
The Zips are led by senior center Zeke Marshall, who has averaged 13 points and seven rebounds on the year.
Ohio senior forward Reggie Keely, who will be tasked with going toe-to-toe with Marshall for much of the game, said he is putting emphasis on running the floor efficiently to tire his opponent.
"The more we do that, the easier it will be on the defensive end to guard him (by) keeping him away from the basket when he's winded," Keely said. "It's difficult, but you just have to limit his close touches and three-foot catches around the basket."
Akron junior forward Demetrius Treadwell also averages 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while junior guard Alex Abreu is the team's top distributor, being that he averages almost six dishes per game.
Christian said it will be key for the Bobcats to keep their emotions in check in front of what is sure to be a raucous sold-out crowd.
"These are emotional-type games," he said. "A team that can handle that emotion, can handle that atmosphere and do what they do typically comes out on top."
There's plenty hanging in the balance for Ohio, which knows it has to go through Akron in pursuit of its first regular season MAC title since the 1993-1994 season.
"They’re holding the title," Christian said. "If you want to take the title you have to beat them."
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a one-point win against Kent State, here. Read beat reporter Jim Ryan's game preview here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
The Bobcats' starting lineup consisted of senior guard D.J. Cooper, redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, junior guard Nick Kellogg and senior forwards Reggie Keely and Ivo Baltic for the eighth-straight game.
Both teams started the game off with an offensive turnover, but were successful on their second trip down the floor.
Cooper found Keely under the basket to open the Bobcats' scoring, and Offutt tacked on three more with a jumper from beyond the arc 2:30 into the game.
The Zips then scored two straight buckets to give themselves an 8-5 lead with 15:40 on the first half clock.
Kellogg then gave the Bobcats the lead, though, with a layup and three-pointer on Ohio's next two possessions.
Keely added two more with a transition layup heading into the first media timeout, during which junior forwards Jon Smith and T.J. Hall checked in for the first time.
Hall recovered an Akron steal for his first touch of the game, and converted a shifty post move into a layup on the opposite end to up Ohio's lead to 14-8 with 13 minutes left in the first half.
He then cashed in the back end of an and-one opportunity to improve Ohio's run to 12-0.
Ohio junior guard Ricardo Johnson had also checked in by that point.
A Cooper transition layup brought the score to 19-8 in Ohio's favor with 12 minutes to go in the first half.
The Bobcats' run was snapped at 14-0 when the Zips converted a layup.
Ohio redshirt sophomore forward Kadeem Green checked in at the 11:30 mark.
Johnson kept the Bobcats' first half march rolling with a three-pointer from the wing to give them a 23-10 lead with just less than 10 minutes to play.
Ohio sophomore guard Stevie Taylor checked in for the first time with 9:30 remaining in the half.
The Bobcats kept the Zips within arm's length during Cooper's absence, though the ZIps had a pair of offensive rebounds that they converted for four points.
Akron brought the game within five during the next four minutes of play, though, making good of seven straight trips down the floor.
The Zips tied the score at 33 with 2:12 in the first half, and took the lead with a corner three from Abreu on their next possesion.
Another Akron three-pointer gave the Zips a 41-36 lead heading into halftime.
Halftime: Akron 41, Ohio 36
Despite a 14-0 run that gave the Bobcats control of the early portion of the first half, the Zips stormed back in the stanza's waning minutes to establish a five-point lead heading into halftime.
Abreu led the Zips with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting, while Marshall had eight points on perfect shooting and a game-high seven rebounds.
Kellogg and Keely led Ohio with seven points apiece, and Smith each contributed five points as well.
Akron shot 62 percent from the field, 10 percent better than Ohio, and out-rebounded the Bobcats 17-8.
The first half was relatively clean in terms of turnovers, as the teams combined for only 11.
Second Half
The Zips began the half with a basket on their first possession, while Ohio came up dry on its first two trips down the floor.
Kellogg had Ohio's first points of the half on a fast-break feed from Cooper after a steal from Johnson.
He then brought Ohio within two with a transition three-pointer from the wing.
Marshall then converted an and-one opportunity to bump the Zips lead to five once again.
Then, after coming up empty for the second straight trip down the floor, Ohio allowed the Zips to get back to the free throw line, where freshman guard Deji Ibitayo made both his shots.
The Bobcats brought the margin within as little as two over the course of the first four minutes of the half, but fell back to a five-point hole heading into the 14-minute mark.
Akron held that margin until about the 11:30 mark, when freshman forward Reggie McAdams drained a three from the wing to give the Zips an eight-point lead.
After a Kellogg jumper, McAdams hit another, this time from the opposite wing, to bump the Zips' lead to nine.
Two sets of free throws from Cooper brought Ohio to within five with 9:20 remaining.
But an and-one play and pair of layups from the Zips gave them a 12-point lead — their largest — with 7:36 to play. Christian burned a timeout at that point.
Despite a three-pointer from Cooper, the Zips continued to build on the lead, bumping it to 14 by the 5:30 mark.
Their lead stayed relatively constant over the next two minutes of play, as the Zips controlled the pace and led by 13 with 3:21 to play.
The Bobcats were able to bring the score within nine with 2:30 to play, when Cooper and Smith scored on back-to-back possessions.
Hall then tacked on a three-pointer with the clock nearing 2:00. The Bobcats trailed 78-68 at that point.
By that point, Akron fans began filtering out of the building, as it was clear the Zips would improve to 8-0 in the MAC and 11-0 at home on the year.
Final: Akron 86, Ohio 72
There wasn't much for Ohio fans to see as time wound down at The JAR Saturday, as the Bobcats weren't within swinging distance during the game's final minutes.
Ohio was held to 41 percent shooting, compared to Akron's 56 percent. The Bobcats were almost doubled in the rebounding category as well, being that the Zips grabbed 40 boards to their 22.
Statistics
Kellogg: 15 points
Cooper: 14 points, six assists
Hall: 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting
Keely: 11 points, seven rebounds
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Abreu: 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, nine assists
Marshall: 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting, 12 rebounds
Treadwell: 15 points, 10 rebounds
Harney: 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, five rebounds
McAdams: 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting
Reactions
"We got off to a great start, were shooting the ball particularly well and were getting stops. That led us to get out on the break, and then the last seven or eight minutes of the first half we didn’t get any stops and obviously if you get out-rebounded by 18 on the night and miss six (or) seven layups, two to start the second half, it’s going to be difficult for you." — Christian
"We’re just going to watch the film, figure out what we can improve on, get better and do the things we need to do to keep moving. We’re going to see them again, so we’re not too worried about it. We’re going to clean some things up and get on to the next one." — Kellogg, on the weight of the loss
"(Akron is)
pretty big down there so we really didn’t stick to the game plan by hitting them first. That’s why they out-rebounded us tonight." — Hall, on losing the battle for the boards
"I don’t put too much stock in any one game. If we’d have played great tonight and beat them by 13, I wouldn’t have put too much stock in that either. We showed in stretches we can compete with anybody in the league." — Christian
Twitter Notes
Christian said the Bobcats didn't let the game slip, but Akron took control...
Abreu said he is shooting for a national championship. Have to win MAC first...
Akron's size wasn't Ohio's problem, but its desire to hit the boards...
Treadwell and Marshall combined for 32 points and 22 rebounds...
Plain and simple, Ohio can't shoot 32 percent and expect a comeback win...
Up Next
Ohio (15-6, 6-1 MAC) will return to game action Wednesday on the road against Ball State. The Cardinals (8-12, 2-6 MAC) fell to Bowling Green by a score of 70-59 Saturday. The Bobcats topped the Cardinals by four points in last season's meeting.
