Some things can't be explained; they need to be experienced.
Ohio coach John Groce tried to explain to his freshmen just how different conference games are in comparison to non-conference, but until Ohio's Saturday 62-60 loss to Kent State, they didn't really know.
I think we had some guys grow up a little bit today
Groce said. Each possession is vital because there's a lot of parity in our league and a lot of games decided in the last four minutes of the game and players making plays.
Hopefully, we learned that and keep moving forward and progressing.
Some freshmen fared better than others in their Mid-American Conference game.
D.J. Cooper burned the Golden Flashes for a team-high 21 points. With Ohio's offense cold in the first half Cooper was the only face of consistency
scoring nine points. He also played 37 minutes in the game
the most by any player for either team.
Forward Ivo Baltic scored six points and had three steals in only 17 minutes of playing time.
But guard Jay Kinney was almost a non-factor.
The freshman scored zero points and recorded one rebound and one assist. Until this game
Kinney averaged 10.8 points per game and shot 40 percent from the field
including 34.3 from beyond the arc. He went 0-of-8 from the field and 0-of-4 on 3-pointers.
Still
the overall consensus was that the freshmen were ready to play.
I expected just what it was, Cooper said. A great environment, Ozone, the fans ... We watched film, so we knew that (Kent State) was physical.
Singletary slices Bobcats
Ohio had no answer for Chris Singletary.
The Golden Flashes' senior guard scorched Ohio for a season-high 22 points. He also grabbed four rebounds and recorded four assists.
22 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 7-of-9 from the free throw line, I thought he really posed problems, Groce said.
Singletary single-handedly kept the Bobcats' late run from completely blowing out Kent State. He scored 16 points in the second half
mostly during key moments of the game.
With Ohio charging midway through the second half
Singletary scored the Golden Flashes' only six points between the 11:45 and 7:38 marks
a stretch during which Ohio took its first lead of the game and dropped 12 points.
He also scored five of Kent State's last eight points
