John Groce's sideline demeanor said it all.
After his Bobcats forced stop after stop in an 91-58 victory over Toledo on Saturday at The Convo, Groce showed his appreciation through fists pumps and furious clapping.
He had plenty of reasons to show his team love on Valentine's Day after Ohio showed improvement on defense, an area it struggled in during Wednesday's loss to Western Michigan.
I love the way that we responded to how we played earlier in the week
Groce said. We came out today with a hungry disposition. We worked extremely hard to get our defense back in check
Ohio worked especially hard to stop Toledo's leading scorer Tyrone Kent. Through a pressuring zone, the Bobcats held Kent, who was averaging nearly 15 points a game, scoreless.
The Bobcats also forced 19 Rocket turnovers.
I thought in the first half I'd give us a C Groce said of his team's defense. In the second half I thought we were an A.
More like an A plus.
Ohio used defensive pressure to start a second half run that put the game away. Leading 39-29, the Bobcats outscored Toledo 11-2.
Those stops led us out in transition which sparked the run Groce said.
Point guard Michael Allen stole the ball, took it down the court for a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to extend the lead to 42-29.
Kent missed a 3-pointer on Toledo's possession, and forward DeVaughn Washington scored another fast-break layup.
The Rockets failed to convert on three shots on their end, and forward Jerome Tillman scored on a layup from Allen to put his team up 46-29.
Toledo called a time out, but it would do little to stop Ohio's defensive pressure. Guard Ridley Johnson turned the ball over on the Rockets' next possession.
Off the turnover, guard Tommy Freeman hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bobcats a 20-point lead.
After two Toledo free throws, guard Steven Coleman made another 3-pointer to give Ohio a 52-31 lead.
Coleman's 3-pointer was one of many in the game for Ohio. The Bobcats started 6-of-10 from long range and continued that impressive shooting in the second half when they shot 8-of-9. Ohio hit 14 shots from beyond the arc-a season high.
Justin Orr led the outside assault. He hit on 5-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 19 points.
I've been fortunate my teammates have been finding me in spots where I'm comfortable
Orr said. It's going in.
Orr was one of many Bobcats whose shots went in. Ohio's outside shooting was aided by poor defense from the Rockets. Many times in the game, Bobcats' players had wide-open looks.
We didn't play defense basically in the second half
Toledo coach Gene Cross said. We might as well not been there.
No Toledo players were there to stop Tillman. He finished with 25 points, and only missed four field goals in the game. Tillman's 71 percent from the field was his best since Jan. 14 against Miami.
I just got back to playing
Tillman said.
sg503405@ohiou.edu
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Sports
Steve Gartner
