Ohio fell to Akron 65-53 on Saturday afternoon at The Convo, dropping the Bobcats to 3-6 in Mid-American Conference play and putting a damper on their 50th birthday celebration of The Convo.
The Bobcats offense was stagnant throughout the game, finishing 20-of-53 from the field while the Zips knocked down 3 after 3.
Here are three stats that mattered from Ohio’s second-straight loss:
33
Total field goals missed by Ohio. The Bobcats couldn’t find a shot to fall in the first half, and the trend continued for much of the rest of the game. What’s hurt them most this season has been their ability to shoot the ball, and it continued to hurt them Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Akron knocked down seven 3-pointers. Ohio’s shot selection struggled at times, but what hurt it the most was the numerous possessions where shooters weren’t taking shots. The same trend plagued the Bobcats earlier in MAC play, and it seems to be back.
The lack of shooting seemed to seep into the defensive side of the ball, too, with bad communication on possessions leading to easy Zips’ layups.
9
Points from the Bobcats’ bench. Without James Gollon and a quiet day from Jason Preston, the Ohio bench didn’t provide the spark to its offense that it needed. Coach Saul Phillips continues to use a small bench, and without one of the three players coming off the bench proving a substantial amount of points, the Bobcats’ offense wasn’t given much relief.
9
Rebound margin between Akron and Ohio. The Zips won the rebound game in the post, allowing them to have possessions restart multiple times. While the Bobcats found some success on the offensive glass, they were out rebounded when a possession needed to come to a halt.
Doug Taylor has declined in rebounds as of late, he had just four Saturday. Jason Carter was forced to carry Ohio with nine, but Ben Vander Plas wasn’t able to give the needed help like he has in past games.
