Bowling Green’s Stroh Center could be a welcoming sight for Ohio on Saturday night.
Following one of its hardest stretches of the regular season — at Northern Illinois, Akron and Buffalo in the previous three of five games — Ohio
Saturday, at least on paper, is potentially an “easy” matchup for the still-reshaping Bobcats.
Saturday’s matchup in Bowling Green starts at 4 p.m.
The Falcons (8-12, 2-5 Mid-American Conference) rank last in points per game (72.6), eighth in scoring defense (74), 11th in scoring margin (-1.4), last in shooting percentage (41.9 percent) and 10th in defensive field goal percentage (44.4 percent). Their RPI is 254, according to Ken Pomeroy’s analytical website, and they have lost five of the previous seven.
But Ohio (12-6, 4-3 MAC) won’t tread lightly.
The Bobcats have gone 1-3 since losing All-MAC forward Antonio Campbell for the season due to a broken foot. They’re 0-4 against the Falcons since Saul Phillips took over the Bobcats three seasons ago.
The last time Ohio defeated Bowling Green was March 4, 2014.
Simply put, Saturday — and the rest of the season — won’t be as easy as looking at
“I don’t think there’s anything about the rest of the
There’s plenty of parody within the MAC, and sophomore Gavin Block said the Bobcats have little room for error with their depth
“There’s a lot less room for error, that’s for sure,” Block said. “Get on the boards a lot more. Tony would get us
Since Campbell’s departure, the Bobcats have averaged just 67.7 points per game, well below their season average of 75 points.
Ohio has reiterated the challenge of playing without Campbell. They don’t know exactly what to expect, but there’s a catch, too: their opponents don’t exactly know what to expect, either.
“I think playing this version of us is still new to opponents, too, and they're trying to figure out what they can do and they can’t do,” Phillips said. “So, it’ll take a little while to settle into, ‘this is the book on guarding us,’ I know that.”
