With over 4,000 fans hooting and hollering behind them, the Ohio Bobcats outplayed the Buffalo Bulls 85-72 on Wednesday and placed the Bulls in a deeper hole for the upcoming conference playoffs.
The loss denied Buffalo its second win of the season against rival Ohio and left their record at a winless 0-7 at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
Ohio started the game strong, with an intensity that the Bulls were unable to match. The team's opening defense was an aggressive full-court press, a defense that worked well against the Bulls in the team's first faceoff.
"We weren't nearly aggressive enough to be able to expect success in this building tonight," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Bulls were able to match the score 53 seconds into the game. Unfortunately for Buffalo, that was as close as the Bulls got. Ohio went on a 10-2 run and with 13:19 left in the first half, the Bulls were down 21-9.
The Bobcats (16-8 overall, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) completely dominated the first half. Early in the first half, Ohio's Whitney Davis bounced the ball off an unsuspecting Parnell Smith on an inbounds pass under the hoop, grabbed it, and laid it in for two easy points.
Turnovers also contributed to the Bulls' poor showing. The team had nine turnovers, which led to 13 points for the Bobcats.
"We turned it over early and often in the first part of the game," Witherspoon said.
The usual point leaders for the Bulls were unable to score with any consistency on Wednesday. After scoring 23 points at home against Ohio, junior forward Yassin Idbihi was held scoreless in the first half, much to the credit of Ohio's Leon Williams.
Although Williams fouled out with 4:13 left in the game, Idbihi scored just three points while Williams was on the floor. Offensively, the Bobcat forward was 4-of-5 from the field and had 10 points on the night.
While Idbihi only tallied eight points, as opposed to his season average of 13, he did manage to score his 1,000th point in a Bulls' (16-11, 6-9 MAC) uniform with 14:17 left in the game. The 6-foot-10-inch forward made a lay up to push him over the 1,000 mark, after compiling a total of 999 after his 13-point performance at Iona.
Idbihi is the first junior to reach the milestone since Louis Campbell did in the 2000-2001 season and only the ninth ever.
By halftime, the Bulls were down 43-29, and from the start of the second half on, the Bobcats never looked back.
Senior point guard Calvin Cage scored 20 points, and coming off the bench, senior Mario Jordan scored 15 with nine boards. Witherspoon commended Jordan's intense play.
"He was in there by himself. He was in there trying to get rebounds basically by himself," Witherspoon said. "We had 12 offensive rebounds. He got five of them."
Junior forward Chad Upshaw, who doubles as a tight end for the football team, made his first appearance in a Bulls' basketball uniform after joining the team 10 days ago. The aggressive football player fouled out after playing just seven minutes but managed to score four points. Freshman guard Eric Moore tied a career high by scoring eight points.
The Bulls have struggled lately, losing seven of their last eight games.
"We're struggling getting (energy and intensity) from guys who are being looked to, and thank God for the effort of Eric Moore and some of the other guys who played hard," Witherspoon said.
Witherspoon added that he hopes to see his usual contributors step up their efforts before the MAC tournament.
"We can't expect to beat good teams without giving our maximum effort," Witherspoon said. "We need the guys who have played all these games to lead us with better effort and energy, particularly on the defensive end of the floor."
The Bulls' next match-up will come against conference foes Bowling Green (9-17, 5-10 MAC). The game is an important one for the Bulls. Another loss will result in the loss of a team home game in the MAC Championships. The Bowling Green Falcons fly into Alumni Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
