Ohio fell to Akron on Tuesday night.
When Ohio made shots, Akron made shots.
When Ohio missed shots, Akron went ahead and made some more shots.
That was how the second half played out, as the Zips found success both in front of and behind the arc on route to defeating the Bobcats 80-68 in the Convo on Tuesday.
Akron's Josh Williams set the tone throughout the evening, scoring 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from 3-point distance.
Ohio falls to 13-8 this season and 4-5 in the Mid-American Conference.
"They got good buckets," redshirt senior Treg Setty said. "It's hard to really judge yourself defensively if somebody makes a good play. Great offense beats great defense. A lot of the shots they hit were tough shots. We did what we were supposed to do on contested shots."
Both teams struggled to get things going early, heading into the second media timeout shooting a combined 9-for-31, with Akron leading 14-8. Both teams were able to stabilize themselves shortly after, however, with Ohio landing six of its next 10 shots while Akron hit five of its next nine.
By the time the teams reached halftime, Akron held a 36-29 advantage.
The Zips entered the game with the sixth-most made 3-pointers in Division I this season, while the Bobcats entered as the second-worst 3-point defenders in the conference. Despite this discrepancy, Ohio was able to keep Akron at bay early and often from behind the arc, holding Jake Kretzer and Reggie McAdams to just 1-6 and 2-9 from deep, respectively.
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Williams was seemingly the only player Ohio couldn’t guard around the perimeter, as he torched Ohio for three 3-pointers in the first half to keep Akron ahead.
The first five minutes of the second half were probably the Bobcats’ best of the contest, as Ohio got out to a 5-for-7 start while holding the Zips to 2-for-9. Before Ohio could ever fully close the gap, however, Akron got itself going again.
The Zips made their living on second-chance points, getting a few well-timed tip-ins off of missed 3-pointers, all while taking advantage of the 12 Ohio turnovers, eight of which came from redshirt sophomore Jaaron Simmons. The Bobcats also missed nine of their 21 free throw attempts.
“Some of it’s physical maturity, some of it’s mental maturity,” Ohio coach Saul Phillips said. “It takes a while to get rid of old habits. I’m sure ready to see the ‘never use a shot fake’ habit disappear for us. But, (Akron) had some guys out there who looked like grown men, and we’ve got some guys who need another year in the weight room.”
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Both teams were carried from a shooting standpoint by just two players. Akron’s Williams and Isaiah Johnson combined for a 15-for-21 shooting performance while the rest of the team went 12-for-43. Meanwhile, Ohio got a 15-for-23 shooting night from Setty and junior Antonio Campbell, while the rest of the team finished 10-for-47.
Campbell (18 points and 12 rebounds) and Setty (17 points and 10 rebounds) finished with their 10th and third double-doubles of the season, respectively. Redshirt junior Kenny Kaminski finished with 12 points and five rebounds, while Simmons scored seven points and dished eight assists.
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