In a fast-paced but sloppy game, the Bobcats improved their exhibition record to 2-0 with a 63-53 win over Ashland Saturday.
The team still has a lot of room to improve, Ohio coach John Groce said. But he was especially pleased with his team's work on the defensive side of the court.
As a unit
I thought we were really in sync defensively Groce said. It felt like it could be the best team defense we've played in my short tenure at Ohio.
I was really pleased with our positioning, and with our guys' ability to grasp some of the concepts we've been teaching.
Though the Bobcats were stout defensively their 29 turnovers allowed Ashland to keep the game close.
I know you're not going to win a lot of basketball games when you turn the ball over 29 times, and we have got to address that, Groce said.
Many of the turnovers were caused by Ashland's non-stop
full-court press
and the constant pressure impacted Ohio's execution.
We made bad decisions, Groce said. We were sloppy, and we didn't value the ball at a high level.
The Bobcats have conducted 25 practices so far
and the coach admitted that little of that time was spent preparing for full-court pressure.
Ohio also struggled from the free-throw line
converting 18 of 32 attempts.
When you get to the line 32 times, you've got to capitalize on that, Groce said.
Groce's five-man
freshmen class had an impressive exhibition debut last week against Taylor
and was efficient again Saturday. For the second straight game
the freshmen led the Bobcats in all major scoring categories
including points
