Ohio (7-9, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) lost its second straight game for its third MAC loss of the young season against Western Michigan (7-9, 4-0 MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats played well to open the game, jumping out to a lead as great as 10 in the first half, but ultimately couldn’t overcome their mistakes in the second half, which resulted in an 81-79 loss.
Here are a few numbers to know from Ohio’s game against Western Michigan.
7
The number of total lead changes in the game. Each team held a 10-point lead at different points in the game but it was still a very tight contest.
Ohio particularly struggled to maintain any lead as it seemed like Western Michigan immediately answered whenever it started to put together a large run, swinging the momentum back in its favor.
16
The margin in which Ohio lost the total rebound battle with Western Michigan. The Broncos took down 45 total rebounds to the Bobcats' 29.
Of Western Michigan's 45 total rebounds, 13 were offensive rebounds, resulting in 13 second-chance points. Ohio struggled the entire game to grab rebounds over Western Michigan, and it ended up costing it in the end.
23
The number of fouls each team was charged with. Each team attempted 29 free throws due to a high amount of fouls committed throughout.
Ohio had three players with four or more fouls, including Gabe Wiznitzer fouling out midway through the second half. Both of Ohio’s big men, AJ Clayton and Wizniter, were in foul trouble for most of the second half, resulting in Ohio having to use a smaller lineup than what it is used to.
13
The number of turnovers forced by the Ohio defense.
Despite an overall frustrating performance, Ohio was able to keep itself in the game by forcing 13 turnovers from the Western Michigan offense, while its own offense only committed five.
4
The number of Western Michigan players who recorded 10 or more points.
The Broncos’ Seth Hubbard had a particularly dominating performance with a team-leading 15 points and 8 rebounds.
