AKRON — The Akron front court haunts Ohio.
Kwan Cheatham’s 6-foot-9, 235 pound frame causes mismatches all over the court. His 3-point shooting spaces teams.
Isaiah Johnson’s 290 pounds bully defenders on the low post. His unorthodox passing turns opposing defenses inside-out.
The two’s combined 32 points and 22 rebounds Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena blanked the Bobcats, leading the Zips to a 83-68 win.
“You really can’t make a dent in any kind of lead when you're taking the ball out of their net to start each possession,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “We couldn’t get any traction.”
Nine of Cheatham’s 17 points came off 3-points, pushing Akron’s win streak at home to 26 consecutive games. Johnson finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Cheatham didn’t even wear a matching pair of shoes Tuesday night. He wore one blue on his right foot, a white shoe on his left.
The Bobcats (11-5, 3-2 MAC) may need to switch shoes, too, losing their footing in the second half after the Zips sealed their win with a 14-2 run, which included back-to-back baseline slam dunks by Emmanuel Olojakpoke.
Ohio attempted to come back with a 10-2 run with 3:42 remaining, but Akron (15-3, 5-0 MAC) outscored Ohio 45-33 in the second half.
“They did the best they could out there,” Jordan Dartis said of Ohio's Doug Taylor and Jason Carter guarding Thomas and Cheatham. “In the first half, Jason was making (Johnson) work down low, Doug was making him work down low.”
Akron bested Ohio thanks to pace, averaging 1.221 points per possession and 55 percent shooting. The Zips had 68 total possessions.
Ohio, meanwhile, struggled to keep up after shooting just 31 percent on 3-pointers and 54 percent on free throws. Jaaron Simmons gave a valiant effort in the loss: 19 points, five rebounds and four assists on 8-of-16 shooting. Dartis had 14 points, nine coming in the first half.
What made the second-half collapse worse: the 38-35 halftime advantage by Akron.
Phillips praised his defense’s ability to slow down Johnson in the first half. The second half, not so much.
Johnson ignited a 14-2 run out of the second half, responsible for eight of the Zips points.
Regardless, Ohio lost back-to-back MAC games for the first time in a full calendar year, the other being the Jan. 16 loss against Kent State.
“I thought we did a good job against Isaiah Johnson in the first half,” Phillips said. “And I thought he diced us up in the second. Once that got stabilized for them, it really found a rhythm.”
But maybe there’s a silver lining for the Bobcats. Ohio won eight of its next 10 after last year’s Kent State loss. Tuesday wasn’t a must-win for the Bobcats, by any means, but without Antonio Campbell the Bobcats put themselves in a hole for Saturday’s matchup at Northern Illinois.
“Just keep doing our thing,” Dartis said. “Don’t get too down. ... We still have a lot of MAC season left.”
