Ohio is looking to rebound from its worst loss of the season this Saturday against Central Michigan.
Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell said Ohio can’t get any further down than it is now.
After suffering a season-worst 76-40 loss Tuesday to Eastern Michigan, Campbell and the Bobcats returned to practice Thursday. They also watched film from Tuesday, when Ohio scored its fewest points since scoring 38 points during a 1985 NCAA Tournament loss to Kansas.
“The loss was embarrassing,” Campbell said. “Everybody was a little down at practice being that we just watched film and got our ass kicked.”
The Bobcats (7-11, 2-5 MAC) had a “pointed film session,” according to coach Saul Phillips, in which they addressed missed opportunities in advance of hitting the road again for Saturday’s game against Central Michigan.
During the first half against the Eagles, the Bobcats made five of 31 field goals and missed all of their 11 3-point attempts. Ohio finished shooting just 23 percent.
“Usually when we shoot a real low percentage I think our shot selection is abysmal. I would say for a majority of the game it was pretty darn good,” Phillips said. “We simply didn’t have it.”
The Bobcats entered Tuesday after consecutive victories against Ball State and Buffalo. Seniors Javarez “Bean” Willis, Stevie Taylor and Maurice Ndour each scored at least 17 points against the Cardinals. Ndour followed that up with a career-high 31-point performance against the Bulls.
Tuesday, the seniors combined to score nine points and made three of 21 field goal attempts. Campbell scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
“Our seniors — Mo, Bean and Stevie — have to led us and tell everybody ‘keep fighting, keep fighting,’ but they’re a little down themselves,” Campbell said.
Phillips didn’t say Thursday whether he could be making any changes in the rotation Saturday against the MAC West-leading Chippewas, which boast the fifth best offense in the NCAA.
Central Michigan (14-4, 4-3 MAC) is averaging a MAC-best 82.2 points per game, compared to Ohio’s 66.6 point average. The Chippewas also lead the MAC in three-point shooting and assists, led by junior guard Chris Fowler’s MAC-best 6.1 assists per game. Phillips says the Bobcats will try to limit Fowler, who also averages 14 points, by playing help defense when he has the ball and forcing long passes.
Campbell said Central Michigan is better than Eastern Michigan, but nine of 12 MAC teams have at least three conference losses.
After Tuesday, the Bobcats are just hoping for some sort of consistency.
“As silly as it sounds, we had certainly our most lively stretch of basketball two games prior to this and you follow that with a flat line. Go figure,” Phillips said. “I don’t like living like that and our guys don’t like living like that.”
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