CLEVELAND — Ohio and Buffalo battled for the third time this season Saturday in Quicken Loans Arena for the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship. Ohio started off hot, but Buffalo was too much. The Bobcats fell 77-61.
Here are three takeaways from Ohio’s loss in the MAC title game:
Dillard’s not the only one who can score
Entering the game, Ohio knew if it was going to have any shot at defeating Buffalo it would have to slow down it’s best player — the second leading scorer in the nation, Cierra Dillard. The Bobcats keyed in on her early, but soon experienced the consequences of focusing too much on only one of Buffalo’s many weapons. The Bulls point guard Hanna Hall was the biggest thorn in the side of Ohio in the first half. She had 14 points, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. She finished with 17 points.
While the Bobcats tried to contain the shifty guard, they were being picked apart by Buffalo’s forwards. Summer Hemphill’s ability to clean up and get easy second chance points kept the Bobcats disgruntled. And if that wasn’t enough, the Bulls’ Courtney Wilkins would come off the bench and drain a 3 whenever the Bulls needed another bucket.
Battling on the glass
Buffalo is No. 1 in the MAC in offensive rebounds, so Ohio expected it to be a difficult battle on the glass. On Saturday, though, the Bobcats got way more than it bargained for. Ohio was out rebounded 46-29 and that costed the Bobcats 24 second-chance points.
No quit
Ohio never quit in this one. At one point trailing by 21, Ohio managed to weaken Buffalo’s lead to eight points with five minutes remaining. It was a valiant way to go out. But Buffalo was just too good.
