Ohio relinquished its only lead against Belmont by the first media timeout Saturday. From there on out, its play broadcast a picture that cast the Bobcats in anything but a favorable light.
Ohio’s fond memory of Nashville from its pair of NCAA Tournament wins there last year was dashed by halftime, as the Bobcats permitted the Bruins a 34-19 run from that point on to close the first half, which led to an 81-62 loss. The defeat marked the first time Ohio finished winless on the road in non-conference play since the 1995-96 season.
The second half didn’t bring a better result for Ohio (20-7, 11-1 Mid-American Conference), as it never trailed by less than 10 despite putting up only two fewer points than Belmont (22-6, 12-2 Ohio Valley Conference) after the break.
By and large, the Bobcats failed to combat the Bruins’ ball screen-heavy offense in the early, and the adjustments they made opened additional holes that the Bruins were able to expose as play progressed.
“We started trapping them in the second half and then our guys stopped trapping that,” Coach Jim Christian said. “They just got brain cramped, I guess. I don’t know what to do.”
Much of the Bobcats’ downfall could be attributed to their poor defensive play, Christian said.
Guards Walter Offutt, a redshirt senior, and Nick Kellogg, a junior, picked up their fourth fouls with 10:12 and 8:41 remaining, respectively. Neither had much impact on the Bobcats’ comeback attempt, as Offutt had only one field goal from that point on and Kellogg didn’t return to the game.
He didn’t miss much, though, as he was taken from the game in the midst of a stretch in which Belmont had seven straight fruitful trips down the floor and mounted a 22-point lead.
“I thought if we got it under 10 we could have made a real run, but then we made three straight mistakes and they got three straight layups,” Christian said.
He noted that Ohio’s workmanship wasn’t suspect Saturday, but its execution was not up to par.
Ohio senior guard D.J. Cooper attempted seven of his eight shots from the perimeter, of which he made only one. He finished with six points, three assists and four turnovers, marking only the fourth time he finished with more miscues than helpers on the year.
The Bobcats had 11 assists on the night — their second-least total of the season.
Christian called the Bobcats’ distribution “awful.”
“We did a lot of things uncharacteristic of us tonight,” he said. “We didn’t move the ball very well.”
The Bruins, on the other hand, shot 52 percent from the floor and had four players that scored 16 points or more.
Belmont’s starters accounted for all but nine of its points, and outpaced Ohio’s entire output by 10.
The road to recovery will be steep for the Bobcats, who didn’t return to Athens until Sunday. Ohio has two days of practice before playing host to Akron, which took the upper hand in the teams’ first meeting.
The Zips (22-4, 12-0 MAC) handled North Dakota State in their BracketBuster game Friday, and are in the midst of an NCAA-best 18-game win streak.
Although the Bobcats’ Saturday loss was in non-conference play and doesn’t affect its conference standing, it can’t be chalked up as inconsequential.
Entering the game, Christian said that a win would provide momentum for the Bobcats’ remaining MAC slate and provide a renewed feeling amongst the team that it can compete with top non-conference competition.
“(Belmont) beat us in every facet of the game,” he said. “We have to regroup
and get ready for Wednesday.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
