For the Ohio men's basketball team last night, it was just one of those games.
The Bobcats (13-9 overall, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) watched shots roll, rim and slip out of the basket all night while the Akron Zips (15-7, 9-5 MAC) couldn't miss, in what turned out to be a 69-49 blowout, snapping the 'Cats' 11-game home winning streak.
Coach Tim O'Shea described the game as one where nothing went their way.
It's just another one of those nights where you get out on the floor and can't make any shots
O'Shea said. We couldn't find that six-or eight-point run to get us back in the game and before you know it you're down by 14. You got to give Akron credit
they played a great game.
The Bobcats played with an injured lineup, with guard Jeremy Fears recovering from a pulled groin and guard Mychal Green playing with a sore back. Both players struggled on offense and defense.
The Zips wasted no time taking control of the game, jumping out to a 14-0 lead and preventing the Bobcats from scoring until the 13:42 mark in the first half. The Bobcats' offense was nowhere to be found as they shot 16 percent from the field and scored only 15 points in the half -a season low.
The Bobcats emerged from the locker room facing a 24-point deficit. They came out with energy, but continued to struggle on offense. Even though the Bobcats kept up with the Zips in the second half, their patented second-half comeback couldn't get started. The 'Cats' outside shooting woes continued as well; they endured their first game in the last 179 without hitting a 3-pointer, as they shot 0-for-15 from behind the arc.
O'Shea said his team was off on all facets of its offense as he grimaced at the stat sheets in the post-game press conference.
This will happen with a young team
he said. They (Akron) were shooting the ball well
and we had nothing going in tonight. The stat sheet from an offensive viewpoint was a nightmare.
Forward Sonny Troutman and Green led the Bobcats with 12 points each but shot a combined 10-for-33. Troutman said the team couldn't get their offense going. We were getting to the basket and getting open shots
but nothing was falling
Troutman said. They forced us to not play our game
we were forcing shots and trying to go one-on-one.
Despite the large deficit, both teams continued to play hard and pressed on defense.
Green and company never gave up and were disappointed with their effort to get the game back in reach. Green said he never thought the team was out of it.
We know what type of team we are
and we know how good we are
so a loss was a loss no matter what the score was
