Ohio (10-7, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) came into the Rubber City on a six-game winning streak, one of three undefeated teams in MAC play. Akron (12-5, 5-0 MAC), now one of the two remaining undefeated teams, was the one to snap Ohio's streak with a decisive 92-80 victory.
Akron’s 92 points are its most against Ohio since 2003. The Zips shot 51% from the floor and 38% from three, outpacing Ohio everywhere except for the free throw line, where Ohio shot 33 foul shots to Akron’s 15.
“Anytime you lose, you learn a lot more about yourself,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “Give Akron a lot of credit; they put a lot of pressure on you on the offensive end and they’re very physical on the defensive end.”
The free-throw margin is largely a product of Akron's physicality. Ohio earned its fouls, but on the possessions it didn’t, the team struggled to generate high-quality looks from any spot on the floor. Additionally, Ohio struggled to match Akron's physicality as the team bullied its way to the rim.
“The two guys I thought really hurt us were (Nate) Johnson and (Isaiah) Gray by just driving the basketball,” Boals said. “When they get downhill like that, it’s a one-vs-one and they were finishing.”
For Ohio, which was without junior guard Elmore James, the lone bright spot was Shereef Mitchell. The sixth-year dealt with an injury for a large portion of the season, but in his first start since Nov. 9 against UNC Asheville, he appeared to be back to form.
“(Mitchell) was really good on both ends,” Boals said. “He was the one guy making shots … and doing a great job disrupting on the other end. He just didn’t have enough help tonight.”
While Mitchell poured in a game- and season- high 27 points, the rest of Ohio shot just 13-of-48 from the field. Alongside James’ absence, Aidan Hadaway, who was a sparkplug for the team early on, suffered an injury to his left ankle early in the second half, leaving the Bobcats without two consistent starters for the game’s final stretch.
However, Mitchell wasn’t the only bright spot. With minutes in the air, freshman guard Elijah Elliott made the most of his opportunity. Elliott was the only Bobcat with a positive plus-minus, finishing at +12 and putting in 8 points and five rebounds in nearly 20 minutes.
“In the second half, he really gave us a big lift,” Boals said. “I thought Elijah was really good. He put pressure on the defense, driving the basketball in transition, finished a couple in there … his defense is really good, so that’s positive to see.”
As part of that second-half lift, Ohio outscored Akron 51-48 in the closing 20 minutes, making it one of Ohio’s highest-scoring halves of the season. Overall, however, it was too little too late, as Akron continued to put in buckets.
Although the last time the two teams faced off was just 10 months ago in Cleveland when Akron ended Ohio’s season in the MAC Semifinals, the Akron Ohio faced today is far from the same team. Nate Johnson is the team’s single returning starter from its MAC Championship run last season, with a bevy of high-major transfers surrounding him.
“They had a lot of money to spend,” Boals said. “(Akron’s) done a good job of bringing new guys in and blending them in with some returners that they had. It’s a good team.”
Ohio will head north to Ypsilanti to face Eastern Michigan Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., where the team will look to earn just its third road win of the season before the toughest stretch of its season. In the three following games, Ohio will face Kent State, Toledo and Miami, all of whom rank in the MAC’s top-five.
“It’s never good to lose, but you learn something about yourself,” Boals said. “I thought we came out in the second half and competed how we should have in the first half. But, your goal is not to go undefeated in the MAC, you’re eventually going to lose, and it’s really (about) how you lose.”
