AKRON — Out of all of their losses this season, the Bobcats believed they were just one moment away from a win. Just a play, player or ball screen away from a better record.
Tuesday night, that argument held some water. Despite a 83-68 loss to Akron on Tuesday, Ohio (11-5, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) led 29-24 with 7:21 left in the first half. Ohio only trailed by one a minute into the second half.
That was until a 14-2 Akron run smothered all chances.
The following are good, bad and ugly components of Ohio’s loss Tuesday.
The good: Jaaron Simmons, Jordan Dartis and Ohio's backcourt
Ohio’s backcourt saved it Tuesday night. After scoring a combined 14 points last Saturday against Eastern Michigan, Simmons and Dartis combined for 33 points on 13-of-25 shooting.
On a night when Ohio’s frontcourt had no answer for Akron's Kwan Cheatham and Isaiah Johnson, the combo guards gave effort. Gavin Block also added 10 points in the loss.
“It’s solid. ... I’m just trying to do my job,” Dartis said in a postgame interview Tuesday. “Try to knock down 3s, try to make everyone better.”
The bad: Ohio’s frontcourt
A missing Antonio Campbell hurt Ohio Tuesday night. And the Bobcats' three big men of Kenny Kaminski, Doug Taylor and Jason Carter combined for just 21 points and 16 rebounds. Carter and Taylor had six points each, with Carter grabbing eight rebounds. Taylor had six.
The Bobcats attacked the paint well in the first half, but it was the Zips’ Johnson’s smooth low-post work (15 points, nine rebounds and four assists) that doomed Ohio.
"I told Doug at the end of the game, when he picked up that (technical foul) for jawing at the officials, ‘Doug, you don’t understand, you can’t pick those up now,’” Phillips said. “We used to be able to giggle about it and say ‘Oh, that’s just Doug being Doug,’ it’s time to grow up."
The ugly: Bobcats just can’t beat the Zips
Third-year coach Phillips is 1-4 against Akron after Tuesday’s night's loss. Akron has won nine of the previous 11 meetings.
The loss also puts Ohio in a bind: the Bobcats are now two games behind the Zips in the MAC East standings.
“A lot of people come in here and lose,” Phillips said. “I don’t like it. And we need to take these moments in which we got kids like Jason Carter on the court as a freshman. I saw his improvement throughout the game. He was clearly affected at the beginning of the game, by a lot of things, and by the end of the game he looked like himself again.”
Phillips said Tuesday was ultimately a learning curve for the Bobcats.
“We need guys like him and Rodney (Culver) and Mike Laster if we’re going to make a run at this thing, be the regular season or the tournament,” Phillips added.
