The Bulls’ disturbed the proverbial Mid-American Conference china shop.
Buffalo (12-17, 7-7 MAC) ended Akron’s 19-game winning streak by defeating the then-ranked No. 24 Zips, which Ohio failed to do Feb. 27 at The Convo.
Junior forward Javon McCrea was instrumental in the upset of the Zips. He scored 26 points and amassed six rebounds and four blocks in the resounding 81-67 victory.
Ohio has had its share of problems with big men in the middle. Even though McCrea is a different challenge, the blueprint remains the same.
“I think that obviously we’re not a great rebounding team, so it comes down to possessions for our team. How do we get possessions? Number one, we can’t have high turnover numbers on offense and we have to force turnovers to get shots,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “That’s the formula for our basketball team. If you’re not going to rebound it … we’ve got to create possessions. That’s our formula for winning.”
Another crucial part of that cocktail for success is Bobcat senior guard D.J. Cooper. He is only six points away from reaching the 2,000-point plateau and could become the only player in Division I basketball history to amass 2,000 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals.
Ohio (21-8, 12-2 MAC) will make its way to the Alumni Arena in Buffalo to battle the Bulls and avoid the same fate that Buffalo handed Akron.
When the Bobcats defeated Buffalo 86-68 in The Convo, the Bulls were a different team.
Now, Buffalo is .500 in the conference and a recent win against the best team in the MAC might provide a spark heading into tournament play, but back-to-back wins against the top two teams in the conference would be even bigger.
Ohio is coming off a 78-65 win at Bowling Green and will look for a regular season sweep of the Bulls. The toughest obstacle will be containing McCrea.
“We try to pick it up this month because we know what we’re playing for,” senior forward Reggie Keely said.
Ohio will attempt to slow McCrea and Buffalo’s roll Tuesday and attain its thirteenth MAC win of the season.
UP NEXT
Ohio (21-8, 12-2 MAC) vs. Buffalo (12-17, 7-7 MAC)
Alumni Arena
7 p.m. Tuesday
— D.J. Cooper needs just six points to reach 2,000 points for his career.
— He could become the only player in Division I history to amass 2,000 points, 900, assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals.
— Cooper needs to convert only one three-pointer to break Tommy Freeman’s all-time record of 259 triples
jm296009ohiou.edu
