Ohio lost to Toledo on Tuesday night at The Convo, 79-76 to fall to 12-5 on the season.
In the loss, Jason Carter shined, but the Bobcats defense failed, allowing 45 second half points to the Rockets after already blowing a five-point halftime lead.
Here are three things learned from Ohio's latest loss:
1. Jason Carter is a rising star
Carter scored a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds Tuesday to lead the Bobcats in scoring. As a replacement for Antonio Campbell, Carter has performed admirably.
He won't reach the level of play that Campbell reached, but Jaaron Simmons thinks that could change sooner rather than later. Simmons said Carter, at some point in his career, will win a Mid-American Conference Player of the Year award.
In the last four games — the number of games Campbell has been out — Carter is averaging 14.3 points per game.
"I'm extremely impressed, but I want to emphasize I'm not shocked," coach Saul Phillips said of Carter. "He's an extremely good player, he's going to be a very good player for us for a long time, he's gonna win a lot of games in a Bobcat jersey."
It may not be his time quite yet, but Carter is proving that Ohio may have an answer at forward for years to come.
2. Depth scoring will be key moving forward
Carter scored 20 and was the most impressive Bobcat on the floor. Simmons added 17 points and 10 assists, and Jordan Dartis added 13 points of his own — 76 points is nothing to sneer at, by any means.
But it still wasn't enough to keep up with the high-flying Rockets.
For the Bobcats to compete in the coming weeks and eventually the MAC Tournament, they'll need depth scoring. And a lot of it. It's worked for them over the last few games without Campbell, and it'll have to continue to work for them moving forward.
In Ohio's win over Northern Illinois, four Bobcats had double digit points. Last night against Toledo, three Bobcats hit that mark, as Kenny Kaminski scored just five points, and Gavin Block added nine.
"Kenny had kind of a tough night, (but) he'll get better," Phillips said. "He's trying too hard. He's the lone senior left out there and he wants to make sure he's pulling his fair share. Take a step back, take a deep breath."
3. The defense can't have off nights
The Rockets are one of the best scoring teams in the MAC, ranking second in the conference with 81.5 points per game. Considering Ohio is the conference's best defensive team, allowing 67.2 points per game, it's important to note both how well Toledo played offensively and how much Ohio struggled defensively.
But the majority of Ohio's success came with Campbell active.
In the four games that Campbell has been out of the lineup, the Bobcats have allowed 53, 83, 69 and 79 points, respectively, for an average of 71 points.
"We've handled screen and roll very well all year, in fact it's something we pride ourselves in," Phillips said. "But (the Toledo) guards did a nice job executing, a couple of those passes were really tough passes, they didn't have big windows to put them through."
It may be unfair to the Bobcats to expect that they'll remain the best defensive scoring team in the conference, but with their best player lost for the season, every player must up his game.
"There has to be more gang-rebounding for us," Phillips said. "That's not a whine, that's not a complaint, that's just a fact."
