Mychal Green ended all doubts about his possible late-season slump as he led the Bobcat offense over Buffalo and reached double-digits for the second game in a row.
Ohio (16-8, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) dominated Buffalo (16-11, 6-9 MAC) from the opening tip-off, mounting a large advantage before downing the Bulls, 85-72, as Green drained 21 points.
We're obviously a much better team when Mychal Green is making shots
coach Tim O'Shea said. The one statistic that kind of jumps out is that when we score 65 or more points we're now 14-0.
Green and the Bobcats exploded from the gate to build a double-digit lead.
Green led the Ohio attack in the first half with 16 points, but the scoring was balanced as seven other Bobcats contributed. Four players ended the game in double-digits for Ohio.
I'm just trying to be a little more aggressive
Green said. Some games I tried more to play defense and rebound and it was hard to get back in that scoring mode. Now
before the game I just think about being aggressive and attack.
Ohio never fell behind in the first 20 minutes and built its largest lead at 18 points on two occasions in the first half.
Whitney Davis, OU guard, energized the crowd when he bounced an in-bounds pass off the back of an unaware Bull, guard Mario Jordan, under Ohio's basket for an easy lay-up.
The O-Zone roared again when Johnnie Jackson, OU forward, exploded down the lane to throw down an assertive dunk in traffic off an offensive board.
It kind of caught me off guard
Jackson said. I just crashed the board and it was there.
Jordan led the Bulls with 10 points in the first half, but Ohio maintained a double-digit lead and entered the break leading 43-29.
Buffalo struck first in the second half on a Calvin Cage three-pointer but Ohio quickly retaliated by ripping off a 13-0 run to take a commanding 56-32 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining.
The Bulls came within 12 points with a minute of play to go, but the Bobcats cashed in on their free-throw opportunities to put the game out of reach.
Ohio makes its second appearance of the season on ESPN2 this Saturday, on the road with a 4 p.m. tip-off against Akron.
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Nick Brockman
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