Most big men have one or two signature moves in the paint, but Ohio senior Dwight Wilson seems to have an endless number of tricks at his disposal, at least to coach Jeff Boals.
“When you watch him (Wilson) in games and practice, he’s unorthodox in the sense like he has a phenomenal touch,” Boals said. “Sometimes, he’ll just flip it up there. Sometimes, he’ll reverse it. He’s just got a knack for scoring.”
Wilson’s soft touch in the paint helped lead Ohio to an 81-58 blowout win over Western Michigan in The Convo on Tuesday night. Wilson’s 19 points was his fourth-highest of his season, and they were needed in order to bail Ohio out of a bad shooting night.
The Bobcats (9-6, 5-4 Mid-American Conference) shot 26% on 3-pointers (7-for-26), and star point guard Jason Preston had a season-low six points. At the start of the game, Western Michigan’s Greg Lee (17 points) took it to Ohio, scoring the Broncos’ first seven points. Lee was Wilson’s main assignment, and he wasn’t going to let him outproduce him.
“I think Lee caught it in his spots in the beginning, and he kind of hurt us a little bit,” Wilson said. “Once we disrupted him and kept him from posting up, catch or whatever he wanted, I think that was the biggest thing.”
With just under 10 minutes left in the half, Ohio and Western Michigan were tied at 19. Ben Roderick would tip a pass, leading to a Wilson layup. Wilson would go on to score again, and the Bobcats would take over. By halftime, Ohio led 43-31.
“I think it stopped their momentum,” Wilson said. “I think it crushed them a little bit.”
For the rest of the game, Ohio ate Western Michigan (2-10, 1-6 MAC) alive, and it started with Wilson. A career-high night from freshman guard Mark Sears (21 points) also helped. Fourty-four of the Bobcats’ 81 points came in the paint, and for the second game in a row, the Bobcats outrebounded their opponent (42-33).
Rebounding has been Ohio’s kryptonite all season. In the Bobcats’ most recent loss Jan.16 against Kent State, the Golden Flashes more than doubled Ohio on the boards (45-21). For a big man like Wilson, that stat was humiliating. Since then, Wilson and the Bobcats have been more determined to fight for rebounds.
“It’s been more of a gang effort,” Wilson said. “That’s how you put teams away ... That was the emphasis of the games coming up, and that’ll be the emphasis against Buffalo, another good rebounding team.”
Rebounding will be key if the Bobcats want to beat the Bulls (6-5, 4-3 MAC). Buffalo has the most explosive offense in the MAC, averaging 82.4 points per game. The Bulls also average the most rebounds per game (43.3) while Ohio ranks 11th in the stat.
Friday’s away game could be one of the biggest for the Bobcats. Despite Buffalo’s offense, the Bulls are stuck in the middle of the conference alongside Ohio. A win could put the Bobcats back into the conversation with the top teams in the conference.
Unfortunately for Ohio, Friday’s game could be tougher than usual. The Bulls’ Tuesday night matchup with Central Michigan was postponed due to COVID-19 contact tracing issues with the Chippewas. It was the sixth game this season Buffalo had postponed or canceled.
“It’s not ideal for Buffalo to get a little extra rest going into play them,” Boals said. “But we had sort of the same situation with our game against Ball State. It’s just the nature of what’s going on.”
