Ohio needed to beat Buffalo. The two were tied for sixth in the Mid-American Conference Tuesday morning, and if Ohio wanted to move into a better position, it had to win.
The last time the Bulls and Bobcats went toe-to-toe, the Bobcats were handed a last-minute loss. However, that was not the case in The Convo Tuesday. The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead and secured an 85-61 victory.
“Game one up (in Buffalo), they turned 14 of our turnovers into 18 points, 20 of their offensive rebounds into 21 points,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “Coming in, we wanted to limit their transition and in order to do that, you have to take care of the basketball.”
Ohio deleted Buffalo’s steals. Buffalo, who is second in the MAC with 8.12 steals per game, had just five on Tuesday. Ohio kept Buffalo from forcing turnovers and snagged eight steals of its own.
One of those turned into a long jumper by DeVon Baker. Baker struggled at the beginning of conference play, but in the last four games, the senior has come up big for the Bobcats.
DeVon Baker (22) passes the ball at the Ohio vs. Buffalo game in The Convo in Athens, Ohio, on Feb.14, 2023.
“He’s got his confidence back, which is always a big thing,” Boals said. “I told him next time he pulls up in transition, make sure it's a (3-pointer) not a long layup, but he had the confidence to do that. He wouldn’t have done that before. Same thing on the right wing in the second half. He would always hesitate when he caught it (and) shot it. It's good to see him playing back with confidence and when he does we’re a different team.”
Baker went 5-of-7 from the floor and had 11 points. He was one of five Bobcats to score double-digit points and the only non-starter to do so.
At first, it didn’t seem as if Ohio was going to jump out to a lead. Ohio had a rocky first half, but it wasn’t as bad as Buffalo.
Buffalo shot just 9.1% from 3-point range in the first, and it got blocked out by Ohio in the paint. Buffalo wasn’t able to connect and it led to a nearly five-minute scoring drought that started in the first half and ended in the second.
The Bobcats were able to force the scoring drought. They attacked the rim and beat the Bulls to rebounds. The Bobcats didn’t always get the second-chance points they wanted, however, that didn’t stop them from being fearless when rebounding. The Bobcats knew where the Bulls were going to be and they found their way in.
“We made sure to know their tendencies, who the shooters were (and) who the drivers were,” Elmore James said. “I feel like that translated to today’s game.”
Ohio studied Buffalo and it paid off. Not only did Ohio move to 12-1 at The Convo, but it also picked up its fourth-straight win. Now, Ohio has to keep the energy alive.
