Coming off a disappointing loss to a very solid Akron team, Ohio (11-11 overall, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) traveled north Tuesday to compete against another tough MAC opponent in Kent State.
The game was yet another letdown from the Bobcats, who fell by a final score of 72-57 after a shooting performance that was as cold as the winter storm across Ohio.
Ohio shot just 29.7% from the field and 22.6% from deep -- not much change from a similar performance against Akron, where Ohio shot 32.8% from the field and 23.5% from deep.
The game started strong from out deep; however, freshman guard JJ Kelly drilled two corner 3-pointers to open the scoring from behind the arc for the Bobcats.
Redshirt freshman guard Jessir Burris was quick to follow with another corner 3-pointer to give Ohio a 13-12 lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the first half.
From that point on, however, it was tough for Ohio to convert on chances from deep, as it made just two more threes before the half was over.
Thankfully for the Bobcats, the Golden Flashes were similarly struggling to shoot the ball, as they went into the half holding a four-point lead over Ohio despite shooting 3-12 from deep.
One area in which Ohio was able to excel against Kent State was the turnover battle, an area that the Bobcats dominated.
They forced 20 Golden Flashes turnovers compared to 10 from the Bobcats. On the downside, Ohio was only able to turn the 20 turnovers into 22 points.
With Ohio unable to capitalize on the Kent State mistakes, the Golden Flashes' premier players, Morgan Safford and Delrecco Gillespie, took control in the second half, maintaining a Kent State lead.
Safford finished with a game-high 18 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor to go along with 7-8 shooting from the free throw line.
MAC Player of the Year candidate Gillespie continued his impressive season, putting up 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Those 12 boards from Gillespie just added to another area where Kent State dominated Ohio, as the Flashes outrebounded the Bobcats by a staggering 51-31 margin.
The lack of reliable size for Ohio hurt them in the end, despite redshirt freshman Kiir Kuany getting some minutes in the second half and producing during them, knocking down two of Ohio’s seven 3-pointers.
Despite the poor shooting and lack of rebounding from Ohio, head coach Jeff Boals and his squad had a chance late in the second half as they cut the Kent State lead to just four with under five minutes to go, thanks to free throw by senior forward Aidan Hadaway.
From that point on, it was all Kent State, as it went on a 16-5 run over the final four and a half minutes.
Players like Safford and fellow guard Cian Medley were able to knock down a bunch of free throws, and Ohio wasn’t able to make enough shots to stay competitive down the stretch, resulting in another double-digit loss.
The Bobcats will have another tough road test waiting this weekend as they travel further north to play Buffalo.
