Ohio showed strong offensive promise, but turnovers and tempo made up the difference in its 106-81 loss against Louisville on Saturday afternoon.
Ohio (1-3) continued its road trip Saturday afternoon with a visit to No. 12 Louisville (4-0). Coming off a blowout loss on the road to Saint Mary’s, Ohio hoped to get started early, but instead it was the Cardinals' senior guard Isaac McKneely who hit two quick threes and gave them a 6-2 lead.
The Bobcats picked up three quick fouls in the first three minutes. Louisville took advantage and hit five of six attempts at the free-throw line. The Cardinals' tempo was quick throughout the first four minutes, and the Bobcats looked to match. They struggled to do so and turned the ball over three times, now down 13-7.
Ohio was in foul trouble early. Louisville took nine attempts from the charity stripe not even eight minutes into the first half. Ohio also got sloppy and had two simple inbounds plays become turnovers. The Cardinals took advantage of some easy baskets on good looks as the lead extended to 25-13.
The Bobcats looked to keep pace with the Cardinals and had to make use of misses. Ohio had some production in the form of senior guard Jackson Paveletzke, who had seven of Ohio’s 18 in the first 10 minutes of action.
Things then got chippy as a technical foul was assessed to Ohio senior forward Aidan Hadaway, and a flagrant one foul was assessed to Louisville forward Kasean Pryor. Both teams exchanged free throws, and Ohio cashed in with a three-pointer from senior guard Dior Conners to cut the lead to 31-23.
The Cardinals then went on an 8-2 run led by their three-point shooting. Ohio responded with a quick jolt of its own offense, but the turnovers began to pile up again. Louisville kept taking advantage, including another pair of McKneely three-pointers to put the Cardinals up 51-35.
Louisville came out of the final media timeout of the first half and extended the lead to 21, but Ohio had a bit of fight left before hitting the locker room. It went on a 7-1 run led by Paveletzke to cut the lead back to 59-44 at the break.
“I thought Jackson was the best player on the court a lot of time today,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “We asked him to do a lot and to handle the pressure that they gave him. He's working the ball, and he drew 10 fouls. He does a great job putting the defense under duress by getting to the paint a lot.”
Ohio and Louisville both came out of the half aggressively. Ohio looked to close the gap behind the arc. It got three-pointers from Paveletzke and freshman guard JJ Kelly. Louisville responded with three-pointers of its own, an area where it played well in the first half, shooting 53% from deep. They kept it going, matching Ohio’s two three-pointers as the gap remained 15 points, at 69-54.
The Bobcats kept fighting, and the lead was down to 13 after another three-pointer by Kelly. Louisville responded with a 9-0 run to push the lead over 20 points. The Bobcats' early troubles with slowing down the Cardinals' pace continued and led to easy buckets and good spacing to help the lead grow.
Ohio needed to get some energy back, and Hadaway supplied by blowing past his defender and throwing down a thunderous left-hand dunk. A few plays later, Hadaway found Kelly under the rim for another bucket to cut the lead back to 16, at 85-69.
“JJ (Kelly) is going to be really good,” Boals said. “He's a true freshman. Just very athletic. Made some good defensive plays, and he's going to continue to grow. I thought he made some great offensive plays as well. He's just going to get better and better the more minutes he plays.”
The Cardinals jumped back on the gas and went right back to the rim to draw fouls. The lead went back up to 22. Hadaway also fouled out of the game during this exchange, removing a scorer for Ohio, with 12 points tonight and six minutes to play.
Louisville took the momentum and tried to drain the clock. Unfortunately, both teams were in the double bonus at this point, making quick possessions hard to come by. Down a big number, Ohio continued to battle, led by Paveletzke’s 28 points, but the lead was too much to overcome as Ohio fell 106-81 to Louisville.
