Ohio (12-8, 6-4 Mid-American Conference) lost against Miami (18-4, 10-0 MAC) on the road in Oxford to continue its MAC skid. This win continues Miami’s undefeated streak in the MAC, while Ohio has dropped its last three MAC games and moves down to the sixth seed while Miami stays at the top.
Ohio had a good first quarter despite the final score; it was lights out in the opening frame. The Bobcats were not afraid to take the 3-point shot and punished Miami with it, as they hit five 3-pointers, with graduate student forward Elli Garnett having two of them.
Miami was still very potent in this quarter. Despite Ohio producing an early lead of 7 points, Miami continued to crawl back. Miami shot the ball better than Ohio in this quarter, but forced turnovers proved to be the difference, as it allowed Ohio a few more shots. Ohio also got more free throws, which it used to its advantage. Ohio led at the end of the first quarter with a score of 28-21.
The second quarter shifted the tide completely. The shots that were working for the Bobcats in the first started missing, and Miami was able to continue its hot streak of shooting, while also making seven threes.
The Bobcats completely struggled to get anything going on offense. They only scored 11 points in the second quarter compared to the previous 28. The Bobcats attempted many 3-pointers, but only made one. This alone made it a struggle to keep the lead, but the turnovers would also pile up, giving Miami points that could have been avoided. The second quarter ended with Miami winning by a score of 48-39 at the half.
Ohio had a much better third quarter offensively, as the team got over the shooting slump and returned to its previous form. Garnett continued to play well, and junior guard Bailey Tabeling also contributed points for the Bobcats.
Despite the solid offense from the Bobcats' guards, the RedHawks had their third straight quarter of 50% shooting. Although Miami wasn’t making as many 3-pointers, it applied a lot of pressure on Ohio’s defense.
Though Ohio was getting some of the turnovers they wanted, its offense turned the ball right back over a lot of the time, putting further strain on the defense against the best team in the MAC. The third quarter would end with Miami still holding a double-digit lead of 73-61.
If the Bobcats wanted to come back, they needed to play well in this quarter; however, that was the opposite of what they did, shooting 27% from the field while down twelve is not a good strategy. This was also Miami’s worst quarter of play, but Ohio stood out. The Redhawks just needed to coast for the rest of the quarter to win, and that's exactly what they did.
Ohio could not make a single 3-pointer, and many of the paint shots attempted rimmed out. All of the turnovers from the game and poor shooting added up in this moment, and it culminated in a 20-point loss for Ohio, with Miami remaining undefeated in the conference. Miami would win 90-70.
Though Ohio didn’t get seriously out-rebounded as it does in a lot of games, the difference in points of turnovers was a huge issue. Ohio has been a team that relies on steals to generate a lot of its points, and it usually doesn’t allow the other team to employ the same strategy.
Miami was able to cash in 33 points off turnovers, while Ohio managed 24. That was a game-changer for the Bobcats as they also turned the ball over more than the RedHawks, which they usually never do.
Even in the loss, both Tabeling and Garnett played very well and had 15 points on 50% shooting from the field. Ohio will need solid play from both of them for the rest of the season, as it has a few more tough MAC games lined up. With this loss, Ohio will be heading back to The Convo looking to get back on track with a win against Western Michigan.
