In the beginning of the season, Ohio is struggling in the early part of games.
During Saturday's 62-60 loss to Kent State, the Bobcats had another poor start. They missed nine of their first 10 shots and let the Golden Flashes take a 15-2 lead in the first seven minutes of the game.
The Bobcats cut the deficit to 30-22 by halftime, attempting to overturn the beginning.
The first four minutes we always come out a bit lackadaisical
and we need to change that freshman guard D.J Cooper said.
Ohio ran to a 13-4 lead in the early part of its 63-62 win against IUPUI last Wednesday, appearing to buck the trend. But the Bobcats fell back into the bad habit in the Mid-American Conference opener Saturday.
The Bobcats made a run in the second half and eventually led the game for a brief period. But in conference play where almost all the games are close, bad starts make the game harder, coach John Groce said.
Every single possession throughout the 40 minutes is important Groce said.
Defensive Adjustment
Ohio's defense kept the Bobcats in the game Saturday.
For the game, Kent State shot 39 percent, which is below its season average of 41 percent.
I thought we dug in on defense a little bit and really played with a great deal of pride in the second half
Groce said.
In the first half, while the game was slipping away as Ohio couldn't score, the defense prevented the team from a larger deficit.
We shot 27 percent in the first half
Groce said. If you shoot 27 percent in the first half against a team like Kent State
you normally get blown out.
In need of Assistance
The assist column is taking a hit.
Ohio compiled just 11 assists in its loss to Kent State Saturday. Four days before that, Cooper tallied nine while the team had 16 against IUPUI.
Cooper leads the team with 5.7 assists per game. But as a team, the Bobcats struggle in that category, as no other player averages more than 3.1 per contest.
Groce said after Saturday's game that the offense was stagnant, and they needed to move the ball to create better shots - which would set up more assists.
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Sports
Vince Nairn
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