A once-animated crowd filed out lifelessly with two minutes to go, heads hung low. Alumni Arena's student section stood in silence, demoralized faces illustrating demolished spirits.
The cause: 40 minutes of pure, unadulterated domination by the Ohio Bobcats.
Those Bobcats (22-6, 9-4 Mid-American Conference) preyed on the descending Buffalo Bulls (16-9, 9-4 MAC) in a crucial late-season conference brawl. Buffalo was incapable of consistently knocking down jumpers and the Bulls got battered on the glass, leading to an 88-77 defeat, Buffalo's third straight. With the loss, the Bulls fall into a three-way tie with Ohio and Kent State for second in the MAC.
Star sophomore forward Javon McCrea said his team simply didn't have its usual edge.
"We'll fix it," McCrea said. "Trust me, we'll fix it."
Ohio won the game on the offensive glass. The Bobcats snared 21 offensive rebounds, leading to 20 more shot attempts (75 to 55) than their opponents. Overall, Ohio snatched 42 boards to Buffalo's 34. The Bulls entered averaging 8.1 more rebounds per game than their competition.
"When a team takes 75 shots, we're in trouble," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "When we get in a situation where we can't get a rebound, we're in trouble. Tonight we were in trouble. They came out and said ‘get out of the way,' and we didn't respond."
The Bulls shot just 7-for-25 from 3-point range as their sharpshooters couldn't find their stroke. Senior guard Zach Filzen and junior guard Tony Watson – the team's biggest threats from downtown – combined to shoot 4-of-18 from beyond the arc. At times it looked like there was a lid on the basket, and every Buffalo shot appeared to go half way down before bouncing out.
Ohio all-everything guard DJ Cooper was taunted mercilessly by the student section as he is every year, but Cooper silenced the crowd with a 20-point, eight-assist, four-steal performance, including a couple jaw-dropping passes that got the Ohio bench on its feet.
Cooper said the crowd always makes wins in Buffalo taste a little bit sweeter.
The game's most controversial moment came with seven minutes left. After trailing 60-45, the Bulls narrowed the deficit to 62-55. Senior forward Titus Robinson snared a missed shot out of mid-air and threw down a mammoth put-back dunk. However, Robinson slapped the backboard after releasing the rim and was dealt a technical foul.
At that point, the Bulls trailed 62-57. Ohio guard Nick Kellogg hit both free throws and guard Walter Offutt knocked down a three right away. Just like that, it was a 10-point game again. Buffalo didn't get any closer.
Offutt finished with a career-high 23 points (including 5-of-7 from downtown) and seven rebounds.
The Bulls made copious mistakes and the Bobcats seemed to capitalize on every one, as Ohio scored 11 fast break points to Buffalo's 0 and outscored the Bulls 24-10 in second chance points.
"Right now, I don't think we've raised our desire up to a level that matches what time of year it is," said senior forward Mitchell Watt.
McCrea and Watt quietly put up practically the same numbers they have all year, as McCrea amassed 15 points and five boards and Watt put up 19 and seven. The two went a combined 13-of-15 from the floor, but Ohio packed in its defense on the two bigs and surrendered open looks from three – which the Bulls just couldn't capitalize on.
Interestingly enough, Ohio shot just 38.7 percent from the floor while Buffalo totaled 47.3 percent shooting. Buffalo just couldn't connect from long range. The Bobcats shot an astonishing 20-for-21 from the free throw stripe, and the Bulls turned the ball over 14 times to Ohio's eight.
The Bulls trailed 37-32 after the first half, but they came out scorching, tying the game at 39. However, Buffalo never got on even footing again, and it seemed every time the Bulls would get a stop, the Bobcats got an offensive rebound and took more time off the clock.
"We got our hands on [the rebounds]," Witherspoon said. "We weren't men about it and they were."
Buffalo has dropped three straight games since winning eight straight, dating back to an emotional 76-71 loss at Kent State last week. This was just the Bulls' fifth loss in their last 33 games at home. Ohio now leads the all-time series, 24-8.
Buffalo's next chance to right the ship is another pivotal MAC skirmish – this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Alumni Arena versus Miami (Ohio) (9-17, 5-8 MAC). Miami's record could be deceiving – the squad beat Kent State earlier this week and the Bulls lost a nail biter on the road to the RedHawks, 52-51, on Jan. 14.
Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
