Buffalo upset Ohio, snapping a 12-game winning streak.
The best start to conference play in program history didn’t have to be perfect.
Ohio lost 51-43 at Buffalo on Wednesday night, which shattered the Bobcats undefeated start to Mid-American Conference play.
More importantly, the loss, which also snapped a 12-game winning streak, puts an ultimatum on Ohio: win the MAC Tournament or miss the NCAA Tournament all together.
Earlier this week the Bobcats (17-4, 9-1 MAC) were ranked No. 23 in the latest RPI poll, implying that they could’ve received an NCAA at-large bid had they gone undefeated in the regular season but lost in the conference tournament.
“It’s exciting for those kids to see (Buffalo) celebrating and enjoy a victory like that,” coach Bob Boldon said. “I just wish it would’ve been our team.”
The upset ended a Buffalo five-game losing streak.
But the Bobcats got themselves into trouble before their flight to Buffalo even took off.
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Jasmine Weatherspoon, a junior forward and the team’s best defensive player, hurt her ankle this past Saturday’s win against Ball State. She wore a boot at practice Monday afternoon.
Without her, the Bobcats looked unorganized and confused.
Junior forward Hannah Boesinger was called upon to be Weatherspoon’s replacement.
Boesinger, who was scrappy and finished with eight points, proved effort can’t trump talent.
That’s not to say Boseinger didn’t deserve credit. She did. She entered the loss averaging 4.9 points per game.
But she couldn’t replicate the presence at the post that Weatherspoon has established, and it showed throughout the game.
“Things didn’t quite go our way tonight for a number of reasons,” Boldon said.
Bad passes. Bad shots. Silly turnovers. The injury.
The Bobcats also struggled penetrating the interior on offense, which could also be attributed to Weatherspoon’s absence.
For a team that relies so much on senior guard Kiyanna Black and junior guard Quiera Lampkins, Buffalo exposed Ohio at its major downfall: lacking size.
The Bulls played a strong zone defense that forced the Bobcats to run the majority of their offensive plays from beyond the 3-point line.
This wasn’t the first time an opponent attempted this, but it was the first time it worked.
Ohio went 5-of-29 on 3-pointer attempts: 17.2 percent. The team shot 27.8 percent from the floor.
Two years ago at Buffalo, Boldon called it the ugliest game of basketball he’d witnessed. Wednesday night was certainly one of the ugliest he’s had to recently coach.
“They didn’t score a lot of points, but I don’t know if that was because of our defense,” Boldon said.
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So now as the Bobcats have a quick recovery window before Saturday morning’s game against Northern Illinois, opponents will have fresh game film on how to stop the conference’s most dominant team—or what used to be the conference’s most dominant team.
In truth, the Buffalo loss might be the best time for Ohio to lose, if it had to.
A loss to Eastern Michigan last year snapped a 10-game winning streak, and the Bobcats went on to win their first outright conference title since 1985-86.
Maybe the same took place Wednesday.
After all, the best start to conference play in program history didn’t have to be perfect.
@charliehatch_
gh1212@ohio.edu
