Ohio suffered its first loss of the season Saturday with a 78-54 defeat to No. 10 Villanova at Wells Fargo Center.
The Bobcats hung with the Wildcats for the first 10 minutes. Then, Villanova went on a 27-4 scoring run before halftime, and Ohio never recovered against the 2018 NCAA Tournament champions.
Here are some stats that mattered in the loss:
0 - The Bobcats were 0-for-8 from 3-point range in the first half. Ohio went into halftime with a 43-21 deficit, which could’ve been less severe had the Bobcats knocked down some 3s. The Bobcats entered Saturday shooting 45.9% behind-the-arc, but their 3-point ability completely vanished in the first 20 minutes.
16 - Amount of Ohio turnovers. The Wildcats, however, finished with just five turnovers. Jason Preston led the Bobcats with six turnovers and struggled to replicate the same command he’s shown over the offense from Ohio’s first three games. Of course, the sophomore point guard wasn’t expected to dominate against one of the top basketball schools in the nation, but this was the first game where Ohio couldn’t generate much offense.
5 - Number of Ohio free throws. The Bobcats went 5-for-10 from the free throw line. Villanova knocked down 18 of 23 free throw opportunities.
39.7% - Ohio’s field-goal percentage. The Bobcats suffered their lowest field-goal percentage of the season thus far and were frequent culprits to balls bouncing around, and then off the rim. Perhaps that was because Ohio was playing against a top-10 school inside a 19,500-seat venue. Or maybe it was simply regression after three quality offensive games.
15% - Ohio’s 3-point percentage. The Bobcats’ 3-point struggles continued in the second half where Ohio shot 3-of-13 behind-the-arc to ultimately finish with their worst 3-point percentage in a game this season.
35 - Points combined between Preston and Ben Vander Plas. The two have led Ohio’s offense all season, but they received no help from the rest of the Bobcats, who combined for 19 additional points. This was the first game where the Bobcats’ inexperience showed, and it was predictable against the toughest team Ohio will likely face all season.
Next up
Ohio will travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Bobcats are set to play No. 24 Baylor on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for their first game.
