The legend of the “Nature Boy” continues to grow in the halls of The Convo.
Ohio junior forward Maurice Ndour put on a clinic in his third NCAA basketball game, scoring a game-high 23 points in Ohio’s 76-72 victory against Valparaiso on Sunday.
Ndour paced the Bobcats early by scoring Ohio’s first nine points and caused the crowd to erupt after his breakaway slam that set the tone for the Bobcats in the first half.
The forward from Senegal was also a key part of an Ohio defense that forced 13 first-half turnovers, as Ndour recorded four steals, three blocks and three rebounds in the opening period.
He finished with six rebounds, five blocks and four steals in addition to his 23 points.
“I just go out there and play for the team,” Ndour said. “I do whatever I can for the team.”
After starting out eight-of-nine from the field, Ohio’s offense went cold for the last 15 minutes of the half, making six-of-22 attempts and entering halftime having made just 45 percent of its shots.
But the poor shooting performance was made up by the Bobcats’ ability to hold on to the ball,. They recorded just two first-half turnovers and nine total.
“Offensively, I thought (we) were very, very good even though we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “We got the ball in spots on the floor where we wanted to get it.”
The second half was a different story, as the Bobcats turned the ball over seven times, including two giveaways that resulted in fast-break points for the Crusaders, which went on a 10-0 run in the half and took a one-point lead with 2:49 remaining.
The defense also took a dip in the second half, Christian said.
“Defensively, the first half is probably as well as we’ve played all year,” Christian said. “It’s not even close. … In the second half, I think defensively that’s the worst we’ve played all year, in terms of our one-on-one defense, our ability to grab rebounds.”
Ohio senior guard Nick Kellogg took the spotlight from Ndour early in the second half, with the forward forced to sit for a significant period after recording his third foul with 16:52 left in the first half.
Kellogg scored 16 points, including 10 in the second half, and put the offense on his back with a stretch of eight consecutive points that opened Ohio a 48-39 lead for the Bobcats with 15:05 remaining in the game.
But the other story of the second half was the fouls.
Both teams played a relatively clean first half, combining for a total of 16 team fouls, but the second half saw that number matched after just nine minutes, with Ohio eventually recording 14 team fouls in the second half.
Reducing that number in the future is a point of emphasis for Christian. He said that improving Ohio’s defense in one-on-one situations would reduce the risk of fouling and keep teams out of the double-bonus.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
@c_hoppens
