Ohio pulled away from Bowling Green in the second half to win by a score of 78-65 on the road Saturday. Follow our chronological coverage of the game below.
Pregame
Ohio coach Jim Christian doesn’t believe in hangover games.
Coming off Ohio’s second-straight loss to Akron Wednesday, that attitude will be instilled in the Bobcats as they take on Bowling Green Saturday on the road, where they haven’t beat the Falcons in five years.
The Bobcats (20-8, 11-2 Mid-American Conference), which will clinch a No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament with a win Saturday, bested Bowling Green (12-16, 6-7 MAC) by nine in their Feb. 9 meeting at The Convo.
The Falcons are fresh off a dominant win against Miami Wednesday, and have won three of five since facing Ohio last.
Seniors Jordon Crawford, a guard, and A’uston Calhoun, a forward, lead Bowling Green offensively.
The duo scored 57 percent of the Falcons’ points in their last meeting with the Bobcats.
Calhoun has gone two-straight games without scoring 10 or more points — a mark he hit in his 10 previous games.
Ohio senior guard D.J. Cooper, who had a season-high 26 points Wednesday, has the potential to make history Saturday, as he sits only 16 points from 2,000.
If he were to hit that mark he would become the first player in NCAA history to score 2,000 points, dish 900 assists, gather 500 rebounds and record 300 steals.
He is also three three-pointers from becoming Ohio’s all-time leader from beyond the arc.
He averages 13.9 points and 35 percent shooting from three-point range.
Cooper said after Wednesday’s loss gives the Bobcats motivation to finish the season strong.
“It just makes us a little more hungry,” he said. “We don’t control our own destiny now. We’re pretty much just playing for seeding. You have to stay with it and now (put) our eyes on trying to get to the NCAA Tournament.”
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a seven-point loss to Akron, here. Read beat reporter Jim Ryan's game preview here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
Christian switched Ohio's starting lineup for the first time since playing Ball State on Feb. 6 by playing senior forward Ivo Baltic, senior forward Reggie Keely, redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, junior guard Nick Kellogg and Cooper from the opening tip.
Ohio opened the game with a pair of three-point attempts, which fell off the mark. Bowling Green scored on only one of its first three trips down the floor.
Crawford connected for a three on the Falcons' fourth, however, to give them a five-point lead.
Baltic scored on an up-and-under layup, though, on Ohio's next possession to put the Bobcats on the board.
The Bobcats trailed 7-4 at the first media timeout, during which redshirt junior forward Jon Smith and junior guard Travis Wilkins checked into the game.
Cooper notched a pair of assists coming out of the break with dishes to Offutt and Keely, respectively, to give Ohio the lead.
Ohio junior guard Ricardo Johnson checked in at the 14-minute mark.
Keely hit his second field goal of the game to give Ohio a three-point lead with 12:29 to play.
Ohio sophomore guard Stevie Taylor made his first appearance at that point.
Johnson then upped Ohio's lead to five with an offensive rebound and putback.
The Bobcats continued their charge to the 10:53 mark. They were in the midst of an 13-0 run at that point.
Bowling Green snapped a streak of five-plus minutes with a basket on its next possession, though.
Keely hit his second two from the key and Johnson converted the front end of a three-point play heading into the second media timeout to give the Bobcats a 21-15 lead with 7:25 to play in the first half.
Kellogg hit a pair of threes over the next two minutes to help Ohio sneak out to a 32-19 lead.
He then upped his point total to 10 points with a steal-and-layup combination with 4:45 remaining in the half.
The tempo surged over the next several possessions, as the teams traded dunks and Wilkins hit a three-pointer with just more than a minute left in the half.
Ohio led by nine points with 53 seconds left.
Calhoun led the Falcons into the final possession of the half, which he banked in from three-point range to cut Ohio's lead to six.
Halftime: Ohio 39, Bowling Green 33
Calhoun brought Bowling Green back into the game late in the half, as he had 16 points for the Falcons.
He was the only player to score more than four points for the Falcons, however.
Ohio's first half featured a more balanced attack, which was led by Keely and Kellogg, who scored 10 apiece.
Bowling Green knocked down 11 of its 24 attempts from the floor, but attempted 12 less shots than Ohio, which made 17 field goals.
The Falcons hit each of their nine free throw attempts, though.
Ohio also scored 15 points off Bowling Green's 14 turnovers.
Second Half
Bowling Green scored seven straight points to open the second half to take the lead by one 2:50 into the half.
Cooper gave the Bobcats back the lead with a three-pointer with 16:30 remaining, but the margin didn't last long, as Bowling Green converted an alley-oop less than 30 seconds later.
Keely made good of a broken play two minutes down the line by banking in a highly contested layup with less than five seconds on the shot clock.
The score read 46-42 at that point.
The layup was the first of three straight for Keely.
Calhoun and WIlkins traded layups heading into the 12-minute mark.
Ohio led 51-44 with 12:12 remaining. Smith committed his fourth foul at that point, however, and redshirt sophomore forward Kadeem Green entered the game in his place.
He didn't last long, though, as the Falcons grabbed three offensive rebounds during his brief spell.
The Bobcats began to pull away soon thereafter, as they mounted a nine-point lead off a pair of free throws from Offutt and three-pointer from Kellogg by the 8:30 mark.
After a Bowling Green three-point play, Offutt hit a three from in front of Ohio's bench, which Keely followed with a turnaround fadeaway jumper.
Baltic re-entered the game with 6:25 remaining and four fouls to his name. Ohio led by nine at that point.
The Falcons cut Ohio's lead to seven by the 4:28 mark.
After a Bowling Green layup, Cooper upped the margin to 10 with a three-pointer, however.
Kellogg widened the Bobcats' lead to 13 with a three less than a minute later.
A Cooper layup and wide-open Keely dunk broke the game open by the 57-second mark, at which Ohio led by 15.
Final: Ohio 78, Bowling Green 65
The Bobcats surged late to enter the game's final seconds having safely clinched a No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament. They shot 52 percent to the Falcons' 48 percent in the game.
Statistics
Keely: 21 point on 10-of-15 shooting, five rebounds, two blocks
Kellogg: 16 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting, five steals
Offutt: 12 points, five assists
Cooper: 10 points, six assists
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Calhoun: 24 points, seven rebounds
Sealey: Nine points on 3-of-4 shooting
Crawford: Seven points, seven assists
Reactions
"We played like a team that understood how to win and made winning a priority." — Christian
"T.J. (Hall) probably could have played, to be honest with you. He really had a lot of swelling after the Akron game. We really felt it was in his best interest right now to play him today at all." — Christian
"It felt good because I know my teammates are always encouraging me." — Kellogg on his improved shooting
"It’s huge for us. For the past few years we’ve been underdogs. Last year we locked up a three seed, and that’s the best we’ve been in four years. I think it’s a big step for us as a team and the program as a whole." Keely on securing a No. 2 seed for the MAC Tournament
Twitter Notes
Kellogg was upbeat about his shooting performance...
Ohio neutralized Crawford for much of the game...
The Bobcats had only eight turnovers against Bowling Green...
Calhoun said Ohio tired him out late in the game...
Up Next
Ohio (21-8, 12-2 MAC) hits the road again Tuesday to face Buffalo at its Alumni Arena.
The Bulls (11-17, 6-7 MAC) are set to play Akron Saturday at 6 p.m. Heading into that game they had lost their past two games, against Manhattan and Kent State, respectively, by a score of three points.
