Dec. 20, 2011
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Ohio Men's Basketball received a season-high 22 points from Ivo Baltic and coasted to a 76-59 victory at Northern Iowa on Tuesday evening.
Baltic surpassed his season-high in the first half with 16 points. His career-high of 31 which came in a win over Northern Illinois last season. D.J. Cooper continued to stuff the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and his 200th career steal.
Backcourt partner Nick Kellogg scored 11 points (3-of-5 on threes), dished out five assists and grabbed four rebounds. T.J. Hall also played well offensively, matching his season-best with 10 points and four rebounds.
"I thought our defense was really good tonight," Head Coach John Groce said. "We held a team that relies heavily on three-point shooting, to 30 percent from beyond the arc. I also have to give our post players a lot of credit because we left them in single coverage a lot tonight. Everyone on our team, including our staff, prepared diligently for this contest."
The Bobcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back. Leading 12-7, Ohio took a double-digit lead after a Reggie Keely jumper and Walter Offutt triple.
The Green & White led by 11 before Cooper connected on a teardrop runner in the lane, TyQuane Goard slammed one home along the baseline and Baltic drilled a corner three-pointer for the team's largest lead of the half at 39-21.
UNI cut the Ohio lead to eight, right out of the halftime lockers, but the `Cats went on an 8-0 run after threes by Offutt and Kellogg and a Baltic layup. Leading 59-45, Ohio went on another 8-0 run to gain its largest lead of the night at 22, midway through the second half. From that point on, the lead never dipped below 16 for the Bobcats.
Ohio shot 52 percent from the field for the game, the third straight outing for the Bobcats were they have connected on over half of their attempts. The team was also able to hold UNI to 35 percent shooting, the fourth-straight Ohio opponent to be held under 40 percent.
For the game, the Bobcats connected on 11 three-pointers, one shy of their season-high, while only attempting 21 tries. The Bobcats were a +5 in the rebounding department which allowed them to score 32 points in the paint (+10). In fact, seven Ohio players finished with four or more rebounds in the contest.
Northern Iowa entered with a nine-game winning streak and had the No. 2 RPI in the nation. This was the first meeting ever against the Panthers as Groce improved to 4-0 against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference.
This is the best start to an Ohio season since 1940-41. The win tonight also improved the Bobcats' record to 18-10 in their last 28 road/neutral contests.
Ohio returns home now for three-straight contests against North Carolina A&T (Dec. 23), Kennesaw State (Dec. 29) and Robert Morris (Jan. 2)
