DeVaughn Washington swayed back and forth and looked at the ground while a red-faced Tommy Freeman stared blankly at the room during the post-game news conference. Their expressions told the story of a frustrating night for Ohio.
Poor shooting and fouls plagued the Bobcats and they couldn't dig themselves out of an early hole in a 78-66 loss to Oakland Monday night at The Convo.
The Bobcats (1-1) shot only 34 percent from the field and had no rhythm on offense. After pounding the ball in the paint during an 88-69 win against Delaware Saturday, Ohio never established itself in the low post.
I just felt they were better than we were tonight
coach John Groce said. They were certainly tougher than us tonight.
Ohio missed fourteen of its first 15 shots en route to an early 20-6 deficit. The Bobcats went more than eight minutes without scoring.
Much like they did Saturday, the Bobcats came back and closed to within 37-30 a few minutes into the second half. But they failed to consistently make shots to get any closer.
The guys got a little anxious and started pressing too much said Freeman, who had a game-high 22 points. Once they hit us in the mouth we just couldn't respond really well.
D.J. Cooper had 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals. But he shot 6-for-19 from the field and committed an uncharacteristic seven turnovers.
Oakland forced Cooper to go toward the baseline on screens, which kept him from getting into the paint and getting clean shots at the basket.
You get him coming over the top of the ball screen coming down the middle and that kid's gonna make a million plays
Oakland coach Greg Kampe said. We funneled it and wouldn't let him come over the top
and I think that gave them some problems.
Oakland shot 35 free throws. Three Bobcats fouled out of the game: Freeman and freshmen Nick Kellogg and T.J. Hall. Kellogg and Hall played a combined 26 minutes before their exits.
Groce said he is concerned with how much his team is fouling, as the Bobcats have committed 57 fouls in two games.
We're trying to play hard without fouling
Groce said. I'm very concerned...the free throw line is a big key in college basketball and obviously they won that in a big way tonight.
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Sports
Vince Nairn
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