Second half: Ohio 74, Toledo 57
Well this was a case of a game being a lot closer than it should have. Ohio's second half effort was pathetic, but they played well for a few minutes to keep Toledo from pulling off a ridiculous upset. The Bobcats must improve in Cleveland, but they tend to rise to the occasion against more talented teams.
1:33 Bobcats will play Ball State Thursday in Cleveland. All four MAC East teams won tonight, meaning Cleveland will consist of the MAC East plus Western Michigan and the Cardinals. I think the West Division is the worst collective group of teams in the country
2:30 Bobcats look like they'll take this one, but it should not have been this close. They took the second half off. That's fine for Toledo, but they better be ready to play in Cleveland or their title defense will end prematurely
5:55 The O-Zone is weak this year. Yeah, I said it. Tommy Freeman gets his name chanted for sweeping the floor during a timeout, but he didn;t get one for setting Ohio's all-time 3-point record? Uhh, okay. The O-Zone is overrated this year. Must be a reduilding year...
8:09 What just happened? Wow. Toledo cuts the lead down to 9. Two long-range 3s and an old-fashioned one have the Rockets charging. Nobody besides Baltic looks into it for Ohio. I think Groce is going to explode
10:57 This place is dead silent. Promotions taking the night off not helping that. I don't blame them, though. This is an end-of-season dress rehearsal in all aspects of the phrase
13:58 Interesting few possessions if you're a Reggie Keely fan. First, he drives to the hoop and dishes, but jumps and genlty knocks over Toledo player...charge. Weakest call in NCAA history. Next possession he takes a 17-foot jump shot. Again, things you can do against Toledo
17:20 More on Baltic as he puts in four more for Ohio. Coaches around the MAC have all been saying tremendous things about Baltic. They all expect him to emerge as the league's dominant scorer in his career. Charlie Coles even said he has pro potential. I wouldn't go that far. But still, good words piling in for Ohio's young sophomore
19:17 Baltic splits a pair for Ohio's first point of the half. He's really worked on his free throw shooting this year, as he's up around 80 percent. It was not his strength last season
First half: Ohio 41, Toledo 22
Bobcats in the middle of a romp here. Toledo is really, really bad. That's all there really is to say. I hope the second half goes by fast.
1:48 Rockets cut the lead to 15. I mean, they aren't THAT bad. They were bound to make a run at some point. Bobcats need to handle it and remember they're playing Toledo
4:12 I know one man not taking this game as a joke: John Groce. Anthony Wright just hit two 3s to cut Ohio's lead to 17 and Groce called a timeout to yell at the players. High comedy. It never gets old
7:33 There's making a statement in the opening round of a tournament, and then there's what Ohio is doing to the Rockets right now. Total domination. My intramural team could do better against the Bobcats than Toledo is right now
10:06 In-house PA announcer Lou Horvath just shouts "Slam-auri warrior" as Washington tomahawks an alley-oop from Nick Kellogg. I know this is a glorified exhibition game at this point, but that was a little whacky
14:00 Toledo finally scored, but wow this team is bad. Bobcats having fun as Reggie Keely just no-look passed to Baltic for a reverse jam in traffic. All joking aside, this is the start Ohio wanted and needed against a bad team
14:34 Separation. It was only a matter of time. Bobcats rolling now. DeVaughn Washington playing a little points guard. These are the things you can do against Toledo
17:41 My best friend went to Toledo and probably could have walked on to this team. This is just bad. The Rockets can't handle the ball, can't shoot the ball and can't play defense. Bobcats have hurt themselves with three missed layups, and the game is still 2-0. Ouch
Pregame:
Joking with other media members before the game starts. We're all more laid back than usual. Tonight is more of a "Get it over quickly, we all know what's going to happen" game. Crowd also realizing this game should be a romp. Smallest crowd of 2011 for sure
Down to the bare essentials for tonight's game, as Brian Boesch tells me. No promotions. No media food. No media interns. Nothing. He says the MAC should just kill these first round games and send the top eight teams automatically to Cleveland. I might agree.
The Marching 110 has graced us with versions of Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," Katy Perry's "California Girls," and Maroon5's "Misery." It's definitely a bad sign for pop music artists when I enjoye marching bands' renditions of their songs more than the real versions. Just sayin'...
