On a day marked to celebration of The Convo’s 50th birthday, Ohio had a packed crowd, a loud student body and an important game to determine the trajectory of the final five weeks of the season.
Akron didn’t care about celebrations, though. The Zips, led by former Ohio coach John Groce, crashed the party and beat the Bobcats 65-53 behind 19 points from Jimond Ivey.
The Bobcats have now lost two in a row, both by double digits.
Ohio struggled to generate offense throughout the entire game, and the buzz around The Convo prior to the game was quickly wiped out of the equation when the Bobcats were down 17-5 in the first eight minutes. Ohio started 1-12 from the floor.
Once the Bobcats began to knock down shots, they crawled back into the game. The Bobcats clipped the Zips’ lead to three with six minutes to play in the first half, but that’s as close as they came. Akron never trailed.
While the Bobcats (11-10, 3-6 Mid-American Conference) struggled to shoot through large chunks of the second half, Akron (13-8, 5-3 MAC) heated up from 3-point range. The Zips hit five 3s in the second half, and they shot 7-of24 from beyond the arc for the game. Ohio, meanwhile, made just five 3s.
Only one Bobcat, Jason Carter, reached double digits. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
For Saul Phillips, the loss marks his first to Akron at home since 2016 and his second to Groce. Groce led the Bobcats to a MAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2012 before leaving for Illinois. Phillips defeated Groce’s Akron team once last season, a 24-point win in The Convo.
But Saturday seemed like the exact opposite of their matchup last season.
For what was dubbed as a celebration of Ohio basketball turned into a quiet arena and a disappointing home blowout.
Big picture
After a two-game winning streak had the Bobcats in good spirits, they’ve now dropped two straight games. Things were going well for Ohio, but after the loss to Northern Illinois and the embarrassment against Akron, Ohio must wait until next Saturday to play again, when it hits the road to face Miami in Oxford.
Stat pack
- Ohio has now lost 11 of its past 16 games to Akron.
- The Bobcats never led.
- Ohio had 12 assists and 14 turnovers.
- Ohio grabbed five offensive rebounds in the first six minutes, but had 13 for the entire game.
