Ohio surged to a 15-4 lead against Bowling Green on Wednesday night and appeared to have set its first-half struggle behind, but after a media timeout with 13:21 left in the first half, Bowling Green coach Louis Orr pulled out a zone defense that befuddled the Bobcats for the remainder of the 58-56 defeat, Ohio’s third loss at The Convo this season.
The Bobcats won’t be able to escape the perils of the zone on Saturday when they travel north to play Eastern Michigan, a team that plays zone almost exclusively for 40 minutes.
“I think we got really passive (on Wednesday) during the game,” senior guard Nick Kellogg said. “We weren’t attacking gaps, we weren’t ready to shoot. We kind of just got stale, so I think it’s just about movement, attacking it, but at the same time being patient.”
When Bowling Green rolled out the zone, Kellogg said it didn’t necessarily catch him and his teammates off guard, but it ruined the flow Ohio had developed with its offense and caused the offense to become stale.
Ohio’s 56 points and 18 turnovers tied season-worsts. The giveaway numbers especially frustrated coach Jim Christian.
“If you go 18 trips without a shot, it has nothing to do with attacking the zone,” Christian said. “It has to do with you went 18 trips without a shot and you lost by two. … It’s concepts that we teach, and none of it was done well.”
Things won’t ease up against Eastern Michigan, as coach Rob Murphy has effectively installed the zone that he saw at Syracuse as an assistant coach to Jim Boeheim.
The Eagles frustrate opponents with their height, leading the MAC in opposing shooting percentage (37.5), steals (8.9) and opposing turnovers (15.8), and are tied for second-best in the conference with 6.1 blocks per game.
Eastern Michigan’s seven-foot senior center Da’Shonte Riley protects the rim as well as any big man in the conference, ranking second in the MAC with three rejections per contest.
Saturday’s matchup will continue Ohio’s gauntlet through a rigorous portion of its schedule, facing three of the top four scoring defenses in the conference in three straight games, with Northern Illinois, Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan each holding opponents to fewer than 66 points per game.
Despite the rigorous schedule and two heartbreaking losses at home, junior guard Stevie Taylor said the Bobcats need to put their last game behind them because the Eagles won’t be pulling any punches.
“This is going to hurt tonight,” Taylor said after Wednesday’s loss. “But tomorrow, we have to come to practice ready to work because Eastern Michigan, they don’t care. They don’t care about how we feel about this loss.”
Up next:
Who: Ohio (13-5, 3-2 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (11-7, 3-2 MAC)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
TV: ESPNU
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