Coach Saul Phillips was brief in his postgame radio interview Tuesday night.
The obvious didn’t need to be said: he didn’t have much to say after the way Ohio lost at Alumni Arena.
Ohio suffered its sixth straight loss Tuesday night in a 114-67 defeat to No. 25 Buffalo. It was the Bobcats’ worst loss of the season and their worst margin of loss since Jan. 31, 1998 when they lost by 49 to Ball State.
More importantly, it marks the worst loss in the Phillips era at Ohio.
“We got kicked pretty good by a good team,“ he said on the radio interview. “We got to win a game.”
The Bobcats shot the ball well compared to their most recent outputs, shooting 26-of-61 from the floor (42.6 percent) and had a 21-point contribution from their bench. They shot 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Ohio was down just 19-13 with 10:41 remaining in the first half. The Bulls responded by going on a 32-14 run to close out the half, leading 52-27 at the half.
Junior forward Jason Carter led Ohio with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Ohio was out-rebounded 48-27. Doug Taylor pulled down four points and scored 14 points, tying his season-high of 14 set against Campbell on Nov. 12.
Teyvion Kirk picked up a technical foul late in the game, and he finished 5-of-15 from the field, scoring 10 points and turning the ball over four teams.
Buffalo’s previous scoring record against Division I opponents was 110, which the Bulls have tied twice this season against Dartmouth and Toledo. They broke it with 114 on Tuesday night, and also set the program’s most 3s made in a game with 19, breaking 18 in Feb. 22, 1996 defeat of Troy.
The Bulls came into the game tied seventh in the nation in scoring at 84.8 points per game and shot 56.9 percent percent from the field.
With the losing streak now at six games, Ohio’s a loss away from tying its worst losing record under Phillips, which was set in his first season. The loss drops Ohio’s record to 11-14 on the season and 3-10 in Mid-American Conference play.
Ohio returns to play Friday night in The Convo. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be watched on CBS Sports Network.
Stat pack
- Ohio struggled to score from the free-throw line, making just 12-of-23.
- The Bobcats dished out 17 assists and turned the ball over 15 times on the night.
- Ben Vander Plas finished with eight points after his 24 points against Central Michigan on Saturday.
