OXFORD ' Shot after shot clanked out for the Bobcats in the first half Saturday as Ohio found itself facing another big first half deficit.
Continuing the trend of starting slow in the first halves of games, the Bobcats could not recover from a 23-point halftime deficit, falling to the RedHawks 73-49, in another puzzling road performance from a team that is just 2-6 away from Athens in Mid-American Conference play.
We just can't wait 'til the second half to just all of a sudden try and turn on the switch
guard Bubba Walther said. As we found out tonight we can get blown out too.
Had Ohio won Saturday, it would have assured itself a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament. With the loss, Ohio dropped into a tie with the RedHawks for the much-coveted fourth seed, making the two remaining games that much more crucial for the team. - Walther said. We're missing chipees
we're missing wide open 3's. We missed shot after shot.
While Ohio could not make anything, the RedHawks came out at a scorching pace led by forward Michael Bramos. Through the first half, Bramos outscored the entire Ohio team totaling 19 points on his way to a game-high 31.
From the opening tip, the Bobcats always seemed a step behind Miami, falling behind 25-9 midway through the first half, a hole which they never recovered from.
With Ohio unable to get leading scorer Leon Williams good looks at the basket, the team resorted to 3-point field goals, hitting only one of their first 11 from behind the arc.
We got behind so quick and I think in our mind we tried to get it back in one possession
Walther said. We couldn't get anything going. It was frustrating.
Following the horrific shooting performance in the first half, the woes continued for Ohio as the RedHawks built their largest lead at 29 points early in the second half.
It got to the point where we ultimately could not get Leon the ball
coach Tim O'Shea said. They knew that they could guard him if we weren't shooting the ball.
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Miami forward Tim Pollitz said. We did that for the most part and he only shot eight attempts.
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