The Bobcats improved to 7-2 on the year with a 78-61 win against Oakland Saturday. Read our chronological coverage of the Bobcats' victory below.
Pregame
The road to Jim Christian's 199th win consists of coaching stops in Kent, Ohio and Fort Worth, Texas — with almost 70 percent of his victories stemming from his time stationed at the former.
Since leading Kent State and, more recently, Texas Christian, Christian has tacked six wins to his resume but needs one more to break the bicentennial mark. The Bobcats, which have lost two straight, hope to hand Oakland a loss Saturday to solidify the milestone.
Little has come easily for Ohio over its past two outings. It was pounded in the paint by Memphis' bigs Wednesday and lit up from the perimeter last Saturday against Robert Morris.
In short, there is plenty for Christian to correct against the Grizzlies.
Oakland has faced a hearty early-season schedule, stepping into eight straight road environments before beating Rochester College in its home opener Thursday.
The Grizzlies' most impressive showing of the season came against Pittsburgh three games into the year, when they took the Panthers to overtime before falling by 10.
They have also went up against big-name opponents such as Michigan State, Louisiana, Boise State and Tennessee, and fell by four to Western Michigan — their only Mid-American Conference foe.
The Grizzlies have the third-best league record in the country over the past three seasons, trailing only Kansas and Murray State.
They are led by redshirt junior guard Travis Bader, who averages 19 points in 38 minutes per game. Duke Mondy, a fellow redshirt junior guard, contributes 14 points per game, and redshirt sophomore center Corey Petros ties the team together with 15 points and seven rebounds per game. He also shoots 63 percent from the field.
Look back at the Bobcats' last game, a 26-point loss to Memphis, here. Read basketball beat reporter Jim Ryan's game preview here. Follow him and The Post Sports on Twitter for game updates.
First Half
Ohio's starters are as follows: Senior guard D.J. Cooper, redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt, junior guard Nick Kellogg, senior forward Ivo Baltic and redshirt junior forward Jon Smith.
Smith won the tip for Ohio to begin the game, and the Bobcats went to work right away. After Offutt missed a three from the wing on Ohio's first attempt from the floor, the Grizzlies drove down the court for a layup opportunity, which was blocked by Baltic.
Offutt was the first players to make an impact in the scoring column, as he took a feed from Cooper for a layup on the Bobcats' second possession.
The Grizzlies made their first basket on their next trip down the floor, forced a steal on the ensuing inbound pass, but then stepped out of bounds.
Offutt put home a pair more on a similar drive through the land to bring the score to 4-2 with 16:48 remaining in the half.
The Grizzlies then cashed in the game's first three-pointer to give them their first lead leading into the first media timeout.
Ohio sophomore guard Stevie Taylor checked in for Cooper at that point, as did junior guard Travis Wilkins for Kellogg.
After the break, Bader hit a three from the corner to give the Grizzlies a four-point lead. He had all of Oakland's points to that juncture.
Ohio senior forward Reggie Keely made his first appearance at the 15-minute mark, as well.
The Bobcats went on a scoring march over the next minute, scoring a pair of threes from Cooper and Kellogg, respectively, and going coast-to-coast for another two from Cooper.
The Grizzlies' Mondy hit a deep two to even the score on their ensuing possession, and they went ahead on another layup drive with 12 minutes left in the half.
After the second media timeout, junior guard Ricardo Johnson made his first appearance in the game. He made his presence known with an offensive rebound and putback early in his shift.
Junior forward T.J. Hall checked into the game at the same point, too.
Smith had perhaps the Bobcats' biggest block of the season on the Grizzlies' next trip down the floor, resulting in an Ohio fast break, on which it came up empty.
Bader put home another three from the corner after Ohio's miscue.
On Ohio's next possession, Johnson put up a three-point attempt from the corner, which clanked off the iron. He followed his shot, though, and slammed home a powerful dunk after picking up a rebound in the paint.
Keely then hit a soft layup to give the Bobcats the lead with 8:30 remaining.
The Bobcats' next offensive opportunity was made possible by a beautiful feed from 15 feet from Cooper to Kellogg, who was driving through the paint.
Kellogg then made his own opportunity on the Bobcats' next trip down the floor, cashing in a reverse layup to give Ohio a 22-19 lead with five minutes remaining in the half.
Hall went to the line for two shots, making them both, to move the score to 24-21.
Petros put home only his third field goal of the game on the Grizzlies' ensuing possession, slipping behind the Bobcats' defense for an easy layup.
Offutt then drove the length of the floor to cash in another layup in transition.
Bader tacked on his 14th and 15th points of the game to bring the score within one, but Offutt brought The Convo crowd to a roar with a two-handed jam, on which he was fouled.
He made the free throw to give Ohio a 29-27 lead with two minutes left in the half.
Cooper then capitalized on an Offutt offensive rebound on the Bobcats' next possession, putting up a three from the "O" in the center court block "OHIO" to bring the score to 32-29 in Ohio's favor.
Kellogg increased Ohio's score with a drive to the hoop for two, which was one-upped by a three from Offutt on the Bobcats' next trip down the floor.
Ohio led 37-29 with 43 seconds remaining in the half.
Smith was fouled with two seconds left on the clock, allowing him to move the score to a 10-point Ohio lead to end the half.
Halftime: Ohio 39, Oakland 29
Ohio ended the half on a 21-12 run, led by the explosive play of Offutt, who had 12 points on five-of-nine shooting.
The Bobcats also had healthy contributions from Kellogg and Cooper, who had nine and eight points, respectively.
Bader led the Grizzlies with 15 points on 50 percent shooting, while their next-best scorer, senior forward Drew Valentine had six.
Ohio dominated play in the paint, largely neutralizing Oakland big man Petros, who had only four points in the first half. The Bobcats had 22 points in the paint and 16 points off Oakland's 11 turnovers.
Second Half
The Grizzlies hit their first shot attempt — a three-pointer from Bader — less than a minute into the second half, but his effort was equaled by Kellogg from the corner on his first touch after the break.
The teams then traded twos — Baltic's from deep while the Grizzlies cashed in from the interior.
The score read 44-34 three minutes into the half.
Offutt took a feed from Keely to convert his second dunk of the game, giving Ohio a further cushion, but Bader fired back with a three to up his point total to 24 and cut Ohio's lead to six.
The Grizzlies brought the score to 46-44 with a pair of converted free throws and a powerful offensive rebound-and-dunk combination with 16 minutes to play in the game. Christian then called a timeout to regroup.
Cooper made a full-court drive look easy on Ohio's next possession, weaving through the Grizzlies' interior for two. His layup and a two from Baltic sandwiched a Bader three-pointer.
The score read 50-47 in Ohio's favor with 14:30 on the clock.
The Grizzlies then earned their first lead of the half on a trio of consecutive dunks from junior forward Raphael Carter.
Wilkins hit a three to tie the game with 11 minutes remaining, after which Oakland was called for a travelling foul, giving the Bobcats the chance to once again take the lead.
Wilkins' next touch ended in the same result, as he hit another three from the same spot to give Ohio the lead once again.
The Bobcats' next spark came in the form of a steal from Johnson, which he dished to Hall while falling to the court, giving Hall a wide-open jam.
The Bobcats earned a five-point lad with 7:30 left after forcing an Oakland turnover on its inbound pass on the Ohio baseline. Keely collected the loose ball and dished it to Taylor, who ran the length of the court for an easy layup.
Keely then converted a transition layup of his own off a feed from Cooper.
The Bobcats led 62-55 with six minutes remaining in the game.
Hall extended that score with a three-pointer from the corner to bring much of The Convo crowd to its feet.
Keely then brought the margin to 12 on a baby hook in the post with less than five minutes remaining.
Baltic then extended Ohio's run with a two from right inside the perimeter stripe and a two-handed slam to break the 70-point barrier.
Ohio led 71-55 with 3:49 on the clock. It ws in the midst of a 15-0 run at that point.
Johnson brought the run to 18-0, converting an and-one transition layup.
Although the Grizzlies were able to get on the board at several points within the last three minutes, the Bobcats continued to pull away.
Keely muscled his way to a layup plus a foul with just more than a minute remaining to bring on the "winning team — losing team" chant from the O Zone and reserves Nick Goff and David McKinley from the bench.
Final: Ohio 78, Oakland 61
The Bobcats captured Christian's 200th win and moved to 7-2 on the year with the defeat of Oakland. Second half runs defined the game, as both teams made significant strides while holding the opposition scoreless. In the end, it was Ohio that pulled away, leaving the Grizzlies little chance to claw back with time winding down.
Statistics
Offutt: 14 points on six-of-10 shooting, three assists
Kellogg: 10 points on five-of-eight shooting
Cooper: 10 points, 13 assists
Keely: 10 points, eight rebounds
Hall: Nine points
Baltic: Eight points
Johnson: Seven points on three-of-five shooting in 12 minutes
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Bader: 29 points, five rebounds
Carter: 10 points on five-of-five shooting, four rebounds
Petros: Eight points, five rebounds
Reactions
"I thought when it was 55-53, at that point in time we had five guys who didn’t start the game on the floor and they had eight consecutive stops. One of the main things we try to do is develop our entire roster as the year goes on because they’re all going to be needed. In days like today, is how teams grow. I couldn’t be more excited about that." — Christian, on the play of Ohio's reserves
"The last couple years I’ve got to know Ric (as someone that) practices hard every day. He reminds me of myself when I was at Ohio State, being that guy that comes off the bench, didn’t get much playing time, but when I did go in the game guys respected me because I practiced hard every day. I gave it my all out there. That’s what he has to continue to do." — Offutt, on Johnson's effort
"They came out hungry. Coach has been emphasizing all week not letting the big guys getting easy buckets down in the post. So just felt that the big guys did good tonight." — Cooper, on the play of the Bobcats' defense against Petros
"I think it’s good for us, coming off two losses in a row we needed to redefine who we are. It’s kind of like last year when we lost to Robert Morris and Bowling Green, and then we had to fight back with Buffalo and really fight defensively. I thought we, for the most part, did a good job defending them, defending their actions and pushing the ball offensively and getting out offensively in the second half — I think we wore them down a little bit." — Offutt, on fighting back from two straight losses
"We never lost confidence, but it feels good — especially after losing two in a row like we did. It feels great to come back to The Convo and get a nice win against Oakland." — Cooper
"I’m thankful to these guys and thankful to a bunch of players and staff who have worked hard. That’s a team accomplishment and makes me realize I’ve coached a lot of games." — Christian, on his 200th win
"We’ve talked all week since we’ve been back from Memphis about playing the game with emotion, playing with passion, playing 40 minutes with energy. And that’s what we did. And that’s all I can ask any of these guys to do — keep your ears open, keep your minds open and understand that we need to move forward. That’s what we did tonight. We moved forward." — Christian, on his reserve players' performances
"The hardest part about playing all these games early in the year is that you don’t really have time. Every practice for the past three weeks has been a preparation practice, so we haven’t had time to work on certain things, to add certain things to what we’re trying to do and develop certain areas." — Christian, on the Bobcats' upcoming week away from game action
Twitter Reactions
Christian said the Bobcats "moved forward" as a team with the win...
Ohio's bigs were hungry against Oakland. Held its 6-foot-10 center to eight points, five boards...
Ohio kept the Grizzlies off the charity stripe and kept their transition game under control...
The Bobcats' week away from game action will yield positive results...
Up Next
Ohio will not return to game action again until Saturday, when it takes on Winthrop at The Convo. The Eagles are 3-4 on the year. The only opponent it shares with Ohio, Wofford, beat them by 15 on Nov. 28.
