Jan. 11, 2012
Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
ATHENS, Ohio â€" Ohio Men's Basketball had one of its finest defensive performances of the season as it improved to 13-3, 1-1 in Mid-American Conference play, on Wednesday night with a 60-52 home win over Buffalo.
The Bobcats held the MAC's highest-scoring team 26 points below its season average and kept the Bulls' Javon McCrea in check. The reigning MAC East Player of the Week and league leader in field goal percentage was held to eight points on 4-of-13 shooting by the Ohio defense.
The 'Cats were also impressive on the glass, out-rebounding UB by three and grabbing 17 offensive caroms. The Bulls entered the game seventh nationally in rebounding margin with an average of +9.7 per contest. Jon Smith led the Bobcats with 10 rebounds, one shy of his career-best, and D.J. Cooper, Ivo Baltic and T.J. Hall had seven rebounds apiece. For Hall, it matched a career-high set last season.
Cooper scored 15 points and dished out five assists. Nick Kellogg added 14 points on four three-pointers and two free throws while Baltic finished with 12 points. Mitchell Watt with 18 points was the only Buffalo player in double-figures for Buffalo (8-5, 1-1 MAC). He also had 12 rebounds, matching his career-high.
The Bobcats continued to struggle offensively, shooting just 32.2 percent themselves, but they managed 10 more free throw attempts than the Bulls and also held a 23-15 edge in the turnover battle. Ohio held a 22-14 advantage in points off turnovers and a 17-10 advantage in second chance points.
Kellogg knocked down three of his four trifectas in the first four minutes as Ohio scored the game’s first 12 points and never trailed. Buffalo did not get on the board until 14:21 left on the first-half clock on a Watt jumper.
The Bobcats took a 35-25 lead to the locker room with Baltic and Kellogg each scoring nine points. Smith added four points and seven rebounds, six on the offensive end.
The Bulls got as close as 33-30 with 15:07 left in the game on a Titus Robinson free throw but Ricardo Johnson hit a pair of free throws and followed a miss to start an 11-0 run that put Ohio back up by 14 midway through the half. During that stretch, Buffalo went scoreless for nearly six minutes before McCrea ended the drought with a layup.
Kellogg’s final three-pointer gave Ohio its biggest lead, 49-34, at the 7:49 mark. Buffalo cut its deficit to single digits briefly before Walter Offutt drained a triple to make the score 56-44 with 1:57 remaining.
After making 3-of-5 from three point range to start the game, the Bobcats went only 2-of-17 for the rest of the game, finishing at 23 percent. Ohio’s struggles didn’t end there as it shot only 59 percent from the free throw line.
The 32.2 shooting percentage for the Bobcats was the lowest in a win not only for this season (36.5 vs. Morgan State), but also the John Groce era. The previous low for an Ohio shooting percentage in a win was 34.4 against Toledo on February 4, 2010. The last time Ohio failed to eclipse 60 points and pick up a win occurred in the 2010 MAC Tournament when the 'Cats beat Miami 54-42.
Ohio takes on Akron at 4 p.m. Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena in a game that will be broadcast on ESPNU.
