Three days removed from allowing 91 points to a 5-15 team, Ohio won't get any relief on defense from its next opponent.
Northern Illinois comes to town to play the Bobcats tomorrow at The Convo. The Huskies (7-13, 3-5 Mid-American Conference) have struggled this season, but one player makes them dangerous for any team to play.
Senior guard Xavier Silas ranks second in the nation in scoring with 24.2 points per game. Silas has scored 20 or more points in seven consecutive games and has topped 30 points six times, including one 40-point game against Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 14.
As Silas has gone, so have the Huskies this season. They are 2-12 when Silas scores less than 30 points, including 0-5 when he tallies less than 20.
He's really offensively gifted
coach John Groce said. Scoring the ball long range mid range
getting to the foul line as well. He's got great size. It's certainly going to be a challenge to defend him as a team on Saturday.
Last year, the Bobcats (10-12, 3-5 MAC) overcame 31 from Silas to beat Northern Illinois 99-84. The rest of the Huskies shot 19-for-50, as Silas tallied 15 more points than any of his teammates.
Freshman Nick Kellogg will likely start the game guarding Silas. At 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds, Kellogg is bigger than point guard D.J. Cooper and might be better against the 6-foot-5, 198-pound Silas.
Obviously
he's a good scorer
Kellogg said. So we're just going to have to play a good game of team defense and see if we can stop him.
But Ohio is coming off a performance in which role players played a big part in handing the Bobcats a loss.
Wednesday night against Central Michigan, three players who average a combined 12.5 points per game - Finis Craddock, Colin Voss and Derek Jackson - combined for 36 in the Chippewas' 91-85 win.
Central Michigan's leading scorer Trey Zeigler - who Groce called the second-best 1-on-1 player in the MAC behind Silas - scored 24 as well.
Groce added that the Bobcats need to slow Silas tomorrow, but the defense is playing so poorly that something needs to change.
Enough is enough
Kellogg said. We got to figure out what we're going to do to keep teams from getting those high numbers on us.
@ThePostSports
2
Sports
Vince Nairn
