Sports
Ohio Prepares For Road Game At Kent State
By: Brad Friedman
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After their season-long home stand of two games, the Ohio Bobcats (7-7, 2-1) will hit the road again to face the last place Kent State Golden Flashes (3-11, 0-3).
The ‘Cats are 3-7 in their previous 10 games away from the Convocation Center and have been on the short end of two of Kent State’s nine victories over the past two seasons.
The Golden Flashes have shown flashes of brilliance, but continue to be inconsistent on both sides of the ball. In three of its four previous matchups, Kent State failed to crack the 50-point ceiling and has done so twice earlier in the season.
On the other hand, the Golden Flashes hung 70 points on 11-3 Eastern Michigan and played in nine games in which the point differential was nine or less, compiling a 2-3 record in such games. Unfortunately for Kent State, the other eight losses were decided by an average of 24.1 points.
Kent State’s offensive productivity has come from isolation calls in the paint. Forwards CiCi Shannon and Montia Johnson are averaging a combined 16.5 points per contest, accumulating .418 and .432 shooting percentages, respectively.
While the Golden Flashes have established themselves as a half-court based team, their best chance to win may come along with picking up the pace. Should guard Mariah Byard remain out of the lineup, the ‘Cats will only dress eight players.
Though Ohio comes into Wednesday undersized and undermanned, they face a squad that is averaging 20 turnovers per contest. Combine that total to only 10.6 assists per game and that’s a team that is getting outscored 67.7-55.1, on average.
Committing 20 turnovers will negate Kent State’s 4.1 blocks per game, allowing the Bobcats to win the battle in the paint. Ohio showed its ability to control activity near the basket in a 70-53 rout of a bigger Western Michigan team, outrebounding the Broncos 51-44.
Quiera Lampkins, fresh off of being named MAC East Player of the Week, made a living in the paint over the past two games against Miami and Western Michigan, averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in those two contests.
Add in a hot shooting performance for Ohio, a team that set the conference single-game record for 3-point field goals against Maryland-Baltimore County, and the Golden Flashes could have their hands full with a team that has won three out of its previous five.