Sports
Ohio struggles to make threes, falls to App State
By: Andrew Bowlby
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Facing Sun Belt opponents in the 2024-25 season has not boded well for Ohio. The Bobcats dropped their first game of the year to James Madison and then lost to Texas State and Marshall in the following weeks.
The struggles against the conference continued in Ohio’s (12-11, 6-4 MAC) battle with Appalachian State (15-9, 8-4 SBC). After a competitive first half, App State controlled play in the second and won 72-59.
If there was a way to summarize Saturday afternoon’s game, it would be a tale of two halves.
Myles Tate opened the game with back-to-back makes for App State. Tate led the Mountaineers finishing the game with 27 points and seven assists.
“I’m not sure if he’s the best player we’ve played up to this point, but he’s definitely up in that conversation,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said.
Tate played a large role in controlling the pace of the game, and in the second half specifically not allowing the Bobcats to get what they wanted.
Throughout the first, Ohio was reliant on its guards to produce offense. In the opening 20 minutes, AJ Brown and Shereef Mitchell both scored nine points while Jackson Paveletzke and Elijah Elliott both recorded eight. The guards were also pulling in the majority of the rebounds for the Bobcats.
Of the 16 boards Ohio had in the first frame, all but two were credited to the Bobcats guards. Those two both went to AJ Clayton who had an unusually quiet performance. In only his second game back from injury, Clayton was held scoreless until the final minutes.
Elliott played a larger role in the first half getting the ball into the paint and scoring from a close proximity. Something that became quickly necessary for an Ohio team that did not shoot particularly well from deep.
The 22.2% three-point percentage from the first half became even worse in the second. The Bobcats connected on two of their 14 attempts from deep in the second. However, both makes were late when the result had already been decided.
“We got good looks, a lot in the second half,” Paveletzke said. “We just didn’t make shots tonight.”
A final total for 4/23 from beyond the arc and an abysmal 17.4% was the worst number of the season. It was also the worst shooting performance, by percentage, since Jan. 1, 2022 when Ohio shot 3/22 from deep in a victory over Western Michigan.
The struggles from deep didn’t seem to affect Ohio in the first half as they still competed and held a 34-28 lead at the break. But that would soon change.
App State, who also didn’t shoot all that well in the first, began the second by taking and making shots. Dior Conners immediately made back-to-back triples, and sparked a 9-2 run in the early minutes of the second.
“The real key to the game was that 9-2 run in the first three minutes,” Boals said. “I thought that set tone for the second half.”
It certainly did as the Mountaineers built upon that momentum and brought the game back to a pace they were more comfortable in. It forced Ohio into a style they are not as used to and ultimately led to a major slump.
Paveletzke made a jumper in the paint tying the game at 44 with 13:51 to play. At that moment, the game seemed poised to deliver another close finish at the Convo. What actually ensued was an Ohio scoring drought that lasted over seven minutes.
During that span the Bobcats missed 10 consecutive shots and fell behind by 13. Ohio never shook off that drought and couldn’t get back within reach.
Clayton’s struggles in this game were amplified because of the offensive woes. He only took a pair of threes in the first half and scored late off an offensive rebound. The three total field goal attempts in the game were a season low.
“We as a staff, we have to find a way to get him shots and get him going,” Boals said.
The scoring in the second half was in favor of App State 44-25, finishing one of toughest halves Ohio has played.
The Bobcats will return to conference play and reset with a pair of road games next week at Bowling Green on Tuesday and Kent State on Friday.