John Groce didn't have to wait long to find fault in the Bobcats' performance against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.
It took only four minutes.
Ohio found itself in a nine-point hole by the 16-minute mark of the first half. The BracketBuster game wouldn't get any better for Groce's team as they lost 73-51 to the Colonels.
The biggest difference in the game was the first 10 minutes
Groce said. We have to compete a lot harder defensively and a lot more consistently than we've been doing.
It's been like a broken record at this point to be honest.
The Bobcats are just 2-11 on the road and have lost five straight away from The Convo.
Players hoped the game despite its lack of significance could give the Bobcats confidence that would propel them to a late-season run. But Ohio's trip to Eastern Kentucky appears to have had the opposite effect.
It's very disappointing and disconcerting when we get scored on at that level in the first half, Groce said. The fact we didn't have that attitude and mentality to start the game is very disappointing.
Groce was disappointed with the Bobcats by the first media timeout.
Ohio trailed 16-5 as the Colonels built that early run without the help of their leading scorer Mike Rose.
The Colonels led from the beginning and would not relinquish that lead. Forward Ryan Wiersma tipped the ball in to put Eastern Kentucky ahead 2-0.
Jerome Tillman made two free throws to cut the lead in half
but Eastern Kentucky guard Justin Stommes scored on a runner to put Eastern Kentucky ahead 6-2. Coleman converted 1-of-2 free throws to make it 6-3.
But then the 3-pointers started falling for Eastern Kentucky.
Taylor drilled a 3-pointer with 16:46 remaining in the first half to increase the lead to 9-3. He stole the ball and Stommes made a 3-pointer to put the Colonels ahead 12-3 four minutes into the game.
The Bobcats hadn't made a field goal and Eastern Kentucky hadn't missed one.
And it would only get worse.
The deficit ballooned from 23-7 to 42-24 before halftime. Ohio (13-13
6-6 MAC) would get no closer than 14 in the second half.
While the Colonels had contributions from a number of players
the Bobcats' only significant contributions came from Tillman and forward Justin Orr.
Tillman scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds
but he didn't have much help. Orr added 11 points on three 3-pointers
but he scored many of those points when the game was out of hand.
We're not playing very well right now, Groce said. We've got to try to get this fixed as quickly as we can with Miami coming to The Convocation Center on Thursday.
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27210,2009-02-22 23:01:00,Women's Basketball: 'Cats halt Bulls' 2nd half comeback,Ohio defeated Buffalo
80-77
on Saturday at The Convo,Semeka Randall's first words were ones of disappointment following Ohio's 80-77 win over Buffalo on Saturday.
Despite winning two straight games for the first time since December
