The Bobcats led heading into halftime, but second-half struggles gave Ohio its second-straight loss.
OXFORD — It hasn’t happened in the past seven meetings and the Bobcats defeated the RedHawks three times last season. Coming into Saturday, the RedHawks were also riding a three-game losing streak.
But that didn’t matter. Despite owning a 14-point lead during the first half and leading at halftime, Ohio fell to Miami 77-66 after a second-half collapse.
Things started going downhill for Ohio (9-14, 4-8 Mid-American Conference) when Miami came out in the second half with added pressure, which was similar to the half-court press that caught the Bobcats off guard against Central Michigan on Tuesday.
“We started out strong in the beginning,” sophomore forward Antonio Campbell said. “Coming out of halftime, they turned their pressure up and we didn’t take it the right way.”
Coach Saul Phillips echoed his players in agreement that the pressure change became “a key factor in the game.”
Miami’s 17-4 run propelled the RedHawks (9-16, 4-8 MAC) from a four-point lead to 15 with less than six minutes remaining in regulation. Phillips said the deficit was a result of Ohio getting caught up in his frustration instead of encouraging each other. He said the latter would have helped “guys not compound errors in their own mind when they know somebody has got their back.
“When things start going bad, I would rather see guys trying to pick each other up and I don’t know if that was the case tonight,” Phillips said. “(But) maybe it doesn’t make a difference. Maybe I’m hokey as hell, maybe I worry about the wrong things.
Problems for Ohio in the past two months have stemmed from not hitting shots and lacking energy to start the game. But Saturday, the Bobcats came out as the stronger team, getting off to a 27-13 lead midway through the opening half.
They were also hitting their shots in the first half. Ohio went into the locker room at halftime shooting 50 percent and Javarez “Bean” Willis had a team-high 12 first half points, but only made one shot in the second half on five attempts. The Bobcats as a whole shot just 40 percent in the second half.
Campbell attempted to bring the Bobcats back into the game with 11 straight points, but he could not get them past the double-digit deficit alone. His 17 points and 10 blocks were good for his sixth double-double of the season.
Phillips also put in walk-on sophomore guard Drew Crabtree to try to turn the tide, but nothing came to fruition during the three minutes that he played.
“You could just feel (our energy) suck out of the gym,” Phillips said. “(It’s) not acceptable, I know that. Not something that I want to be a part of, or anybody should like to be a part of.”
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