Basketball Notebook: Ohio falls to UMass in third straight road game

The Bobcats fell to 7-4 on the year with an 85-76 loss to Massachusetts Wednesday. Read our chronological coverage of the Bobcats' loss below.

Pregame

 

Winthrop's 10-point loss to No. 7 Ohio State Tuesday may have softened some people's perception of the Bobcats' one-point loss to the Eagles over the weekend.

Still, there's plenty for the Bobcats to improve upon against UMass Wednesday, where they search for their first win on the road, as they fell to Robert Morris and Memphis earlier in the year. 

"This was one of those games where you have to try to grind out a win when you don’t play well or aren’t in a rhythm offensively," Ohio coach Jim Christian said after the 50-49 loss. "We never got there. We never got the big stop we needed or got the run — the one run — to break it."

The Minutemen (5-3) are led by junior guard Chaz Williams, who averages 16 points and seven assists per game, and have six players that average more than five rebounds per game. 

Ohio (7-3) will have to focus on righting a slew of what Christian called "unintelligent decisions" Saturday. The Minutemen's uptempo offense does play into the hand of Ohio's gameplan, though, as Winthrop's slower pace stunted the Bobcats' production.

Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a one-point loss to Winthrop, here. Read beat reporter Jim Ryan's game preview here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.

 

First Half

 

Ohio's starters are as follows: Senior guard D.J. Cooper, redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, junior guard Nick Kellogg, senior forward Ivo Baltic and redshirt junior forward Jon Smith.

UMass won the opening tip and took little time to put points on the board, slamming home a dunk less than 10 seconds into the game.

Smith bounced the Bobcats back with a dunk in transition, though, on the Bobcats' second trip down the floor.

The Bobcats gained momentum by cashing in on a jumper from Baltic and three-pointers from Offutt and Cooper by the 17-minute mark.

Kellogg added another three to put the Bobcats ahead 13-4 at the 16:38 point in the first half.

Ohio senior forward Reggie Keely checked in soon thereafter, spelling Smith, who picked up his second foul.

He soon committed his first, giving the Bobcats their fourth team foul.

Offutt hit a jumper not long after, bringing the score to 18-6 inside the 15-minute mark.

Junior forward T.J. Hall checked in at that point, as did junior guard Travis Williams.

Several plays later, Cooper was whistled for a technical foul for slapping Williams' hand while heading toward the defensive end of the court. Sophomore guard Stevie Williams checked in for the first time as a result.

The technical sandwiched UMass' 10-point run, which brought the score to 18-16 nearing the halfway point of the first half.

Offutt broke the streak by making a free-throw just outside the 10-minute mark, but UMass then tied the score at 19 with a three-pointer.

Junior guard Ricardo Johnson made his first appearance at the nine-minute point in the first half, where the Minutemen took their first lead of the game on a step-back two.

Ohio redshirt junior forward Kadeem Green stepped in for Smith, who picked up his third foul with 8:54 remaining, looking to stop a 10-1 run UMass run. 

UMass junior guard Jesse Morgan then hit a trio of threes to extend the Minutemen's lead to 35-26 with less than seven minutes to play in the half.

He had 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting at that juncture. 

Baltic hit a jumper, which was followed by a pair of twos from Green to close the gap to seven with 5:20 to play in the half.

The Bobcats pulled within three with a three-pointer from Offutt, which moved his point total to 15 on the night, and a pair of free throws from Cooper.

UMass lashed back with a dunk in transition, though, bringing the margin back to five.

It continued to roll to a nine-point lead, as Ohio made its way into the bonus inside the two-minute mark.

Cooper cut a third off the Minutemen's lead with less than a minute to play, but the Minutemen hit another two, moving the score to 48-40.

 

Halftime: UMass 48, Ohio 40

 

Judging by statistics, Ohio did not play poorly in the first half. It hit 52 percent of its shots and posted only nine points less than it did in its previous outing against Winthrop.

However, Williams took over the first half for UMass, scoring 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The Minutemen also cashed in 12 points from the free throw line, compared to the Bobcats' three.

Offutt led Ohio with 15 points, while Cooper had 10 of his own despite looking irritated, as referenced by his technical foul away from game action.

Green had six points in seven minutes, hitting each of his three shots in the first half.

Ohio also had 12 turnovers, as opposed to the Minutemen's eight.

 

Second Half

 

Keely opened Ohio's second half scoring with a layup, bringing the gap to six. 

Kellogg followed Keely's lead with a two of his own, but it was countered by a similar play by the opposition. 

Kellogg hit a three to bring the score within four less than four minutes into the half, making good of an offensive rebound from Baltic.

After another two from the Minutemen, Offutt dropped his fifth three of the night from the right wing to bring the score to 53-50.

D.J. Cooper tied the game at 53 with 15 minutes to play, and after the Minutemen bounced back with a mid-range jumper, Green tossed home a baby hook to knot the score once again.

Morgan set a career high in points with a three on the Minutemen's next trip down the floor, however, moving the score to 58-55.

Morgan upped his point total to 33 points with back-to-back three-pointers, bringing the Minutemen's lead 11 with 12 minutes to play.

Since the score was knotted at 55, the Minutemen went on an 11-point run to bring the score to 63-55.

Kellogg made his mark from beyond the three-point line, adding to two points from Cooper, to bring the Bobcats' score to 60.

By that point, though, the Minutemen were already to the 70-point mark. 

Less than 10 minutes remained at that juncture. 

A free throw from Cooper and backdoor cut from Keely brought the score within seven with less than nine minutes remaining. 

The Minutemen built their lead to as much as 11 before Cooper attempted to begin to bring the Bobcats back, driving coast-to-coast for a layup in the lane with six minutes remaining.

He hit a 27-foot three-pointer on the Bobcats' next trip down the floor, but the Minutemen kept on trucking offensively, as Williams hit a free throw on the back end of an and-one layup, bringing the score to 78-70 with four minutes to play.

Kellogg drove the rim, laying in a two in traffic to cut the Minutemen's lead to six just inside the four-minute mark.

Hall missed a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions with less than three minutes to play — his only two shot attempts of the game.

With 1:21 to play, Cooper drove the length of the floor, put a shot up and collected his own rebound, narrowing the Minutemen's lead to six. 

The Bobcats were unable to close the gap with less than a minute left, though, as UMass held the ball for the majority of the closing minute to cap the victory.

 

Final: UMass 85, Ohio 76

 

The Minutemen walked off the court with their third-straight victory, pushing Ohio to 0-3 on the road this season.

 

Statistics

 

Cooper: 23 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, moved to fifth place on Ohio's all-time scoring list

Offutt: 18 points, two assists, two steals

Kellogg: 15 points, two rebounds, two steals

Green: Eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, three rebounds

Baltic: 10 rebounds, nine assists, five turnovers, two points

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Morgan: 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting

Lalanne: 12 points, 11 rebounds

Williams: Nine points, eight assists

 

Reactions

 

Up Next

 

The Bobcats return to the court Saturday to face off against Maryland-Eastern Shore, which is winless in 10 games this season. Ohio had won 16 straight at The Convo leading into Saturday's game against Winthrop. 

The Hawks have lost only one game by less than 10 points this season.