For the first 20 minutes of games, Ohio pushes a figurative snooze button and doesn’t play to its potential until the second half.
And as Ohio (13-4, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) hosts Bowling Green (8-9, 2-2 MAC) at The Convo on Jan. 22, the first half struggles are something the Bobcats would address if they knew how.
“If I could tell you, we would probably have it fixed by now,” senior guard Travis Wilkins said. “In the second half, we seem to come out eager to play and eager to get a lead on our opponent. We need to start the first half the same way we’re starting the second half.”
The difference in the quality of play has been noticeable statistically, with Ohio averaging 7.5 turnovers in the first half and only 4.5 in the second half during MAC play.
“In the first half, we may be a little asleep,” freshman forward Antonio Campbell said. “We go into the locker room at halftime and coach wakes us up. We come out and do what we have to do to win a game.”
Coach Jim Christian said he isn’t overly concerned about the uneven games his team is playing, but admitted that it is something that needs to change.
“Nobody plays great for 40 minutes,” Christian said. “Some of it is the other teams too, man. The other teams are good. They’re coming out ready to play too and they’re coming out prepared. … It’s not alarming, but it’s obviously something we need to get better at.”
The Bobcat’s opposition is another strong defensive unit, as the Falcons have the conference’s best scoring defense, allowing only 62.7 points per contest.
Christian is concerned with the matchup, as the Falcons force 14.9 turnovers in each contest as a result of a full-court pressure defense that his team hasn’t seen yet this season.
“We’re going to get their best shot, we know that,” Christian said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. … Nobody (has) pressed us like that all year long, so that’s going to be a challenge.”
The Falcons have also instituted a no-fly zone on defense, leading the conference and ranking 14th in the country with 6.4 blocks per game.
Junior forward Richaun Holmes anchors the swat party inside, accounting for half of those blocks with a MAC-best 3.24 blocks per contest. Holmes is also within the top 10 of the MAC in terms of points (14.3), rebounds (7.5) and shooting percentage (54.2).
Bowling Green started off the conference slate slowly on the offensive end, averaging 43.5 points in losses against Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois. But the rims were kinder to the Falcons in wins against Central Michigan and Western Michigan, averaging 68 points in those contests.
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