Ohio just received a 20-point wake-up call.
Its time off the court has caught up to it, and its six-game winning streak has snapped. Buffalo came into The Convo and beat the Bobcats into submission 86-66. After the week Ohio had, the loss came as a gut punch. It hadn’t lost by 20 points or more since its loss to Akron on Dec. 22.
While on its win streak, Ohio averaged 83.5 points per game and had the highest field goal percentage in the Mid-American Conference.
None of that showed Saturday.
The Bobcats shot their worst game of basketball this season. A 37.3 field goal percentage says it all. The closest Ohio has come to shooting as badly as it did Saturday was when it shot 40% from the field at Marshall.
Even when Ohio managed to make room and find an opening, its shots flubbed. Nothing connected. Not a single Bobcat made a 3-pointer in the second half. Ben Roderick, known for his sharpshooting even on Ohio’s most inaccurate days, was 1-for-7 beyond the arc Saturday.
“I didn't think our legs were there,“ coach Jeff Boals said. “I thought in the second half, we got some really good looks. We didn't make it in the second half. Our legs weren’t there today. We were a step slow.”
Some can pin the blame on the Bobcats being worn down from playing its third game in five days. Without a significant rest, the Bobcats were inevitably going to hit a wall. The problem with that logic is Buffalo was also playing its third game that week.
Buffalo brought energy. Ohio didn’t.
Boals thinks Ohio burned itself out trying to fight back into the game after halftime. The Bulls had control of the tempo of the game from minute one. Every time Ohio scored, it was responded to with an offensive blowout. The Bulls went on two separate 15-2 runs over the course of the game.
Jason Preston believes it was just an off night. The junior loves adversity, and Saturday believes a knockdown like Buffalo will keep Ohio’s head on straight for the MAC Tournament. Preston finished the game with 10 points and was 4-for-10 from the field.
“It's been a long time since we had lost quite like this,“ Preston said after the game. “That’ll just make us hungrier. We'll watch the film, and we'll learn from what we did wrong.”
Ohio has two games left in its schedule, and neither one is going to be any easier than Saturday. If it was just an off night, the break until Tuesday will give Ohio the time necessary to reel in the mistakes that Buffalo took full advantage of. But if Saturday was the night that 21 days off the court catches up with it, Ohio may end the season on a skid instead of on its feet.
