The Bobcats competed throughout, but lost to Central Michigan on Saturday in a second consecutive loss.
Ohio forward Antonio Campbell said he wants to stay away from the state of Michigan.
After Ohio’s 74-69 loss against Central Michigan Saturday, the second of two games the Bobcats lost visiting the Great Lakes State this past week, it’s doubtful any other Bobcats are eager to return as well.
Ohio’s (7-12, 2-6 Mid-American Conference) losses against Central and Eastern Michigan came after they put together two-straight victories, which included a memorable last-second buzzer-beating dunk by senior forward Maurice Ndour against Buffalo.
“These last seven days have been frustrating, especially after two good wins,” Campbell, a sophomore, said. “Our defensive energy was high during both those games but against Eastern Michigan we weren’t making shots and got frustrated, which leads into (Saturday). There’s just a bunch of frustration built up.”
The problems that Ohio faced Tuesday appeared again Saturday, but the Bobcats were able to fight back.
After turning the ball over 18 times against Eastern Michigan, the Bobcats turned the ball over four times within the first five minutes and finished with 16 turnovers. Also, during both quarters against Eastern Michigan and the first half on Saturday, they were a combined 3-for-30 from three-point range.
Phillips pointed to turnovers, along with hitting shots, but not finishing at the rim on layups and dunks is something he said he doesn’t want to see again.
“We’ve got to find a way to get six points better against (Central Michigan) the next time we play them, and again, it would help if it started with finishing at the rim,” Phillips said. “That’s three halves of basketball where it’s about as bleak as it gets beyond the arc.
The bottom line is that whenever you lose a game, the first thing that I’m going to look at is how we utilized (Ndour), and it wasn’t enough.”
Ndour, Ohio’s leading scorer with 15.1 points per game, hit just four shots on 12 attempts during the two road losses. Phillips said Ndour was frustrated with Ohio’s struggles to get him the ball, but his presence can be felt even if he isn’t the biggest workhorse on offense.
Phillips wants the Bobcats to feed him the ball more often, especially after he led Ohio to victory against Buffalo last weekend with a career-high 31 points and a game-winning dunk in the final second.
“The impact he has on a game isn’t always going to be what he scores. He gets other people open when he attracts (defenders),” Phillips said. “He’s giving us what he can right now, but I think you’d see him flying around a little more if we could find him a little more within the offense. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”
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