Sports
Ohio Men’s Basketball suffers worst home loss under Boals to Akron 86-65
By: Andrew Bowlby
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – A gritty three-point victory from Tuesday night that push Ohio Men’s Basketball in every way was the first part of a very important week for the team.
And with a highly anticipated Friday night matchup with Akron, the Bobcats had a chance to take a step in the right direction.
However, Ohio (11-10, 5-4 MAC) came out flat and suffered their worst home MAC loss under head coach Jeff Boals the Zips (16-4, 7-1 MAC) dominated en-route to their sixth-straight win 86-65.
“They came in here and did exactly what they needed to do,” Boals said. “I got out-coached, we got out-competed, give them credit.”
Ohio did get two players back from injury with both Javan Simmons and Elijah Elliott making their respective returns.
Akron set the tone immediately with Amani Lyles getting a driving layup to fall. That was followed up by two more makes and the Zips were up 7-0 just over a minute in.
The early tone and struggles on the defensive end were a theme present for all 40 minutes.
“I thought the whole first half we were on our heels,” Boals said. “They took advantage of every opportunity they could.
Ohio did make a response and got to the first timeout of the game trailing just 11-6. But that was as close as the Bobcats would get for the rest of the game.
Part of the problem in the first half was foul trouble in the front court. Simmons had two quick fouls and by the end of the half, both Aidan Hadaway and Jalen Breath had three each.
The most deflating part of the opening minutes was Ohio’s inability to make good looks. The Bobcats were getting the shots they wanted but made just five of their first 17 attempts.
Akron took a double-digit lead with 6:54 to play in the first half, and the Zips opened the game up from there.
At one point Akron was on an 18-2 run spanning 6:23. During that same stretch Ohio went without a field goal for almost five minutes.
Ohio was missing open shots, turning the ball over and playing loose. Hadaway’s foul trouble really occurred on one sequence. After a review he was assessed a flagrant foul, and after having a discussion with the official was given a technical.
“At some point I knew it was going to hurt us,” Boals said on Hadaway’s technical problems.
Boals also got a technical later in the half after Ohio had a complete breakdown in transition defense. His tech didn’t come for being direct at an official but rather in trying to break his clipboard markers flew onto the court.
The Zips took a 48-26 road lead into halftime and in complete control of a team that has won 80% of its home games during the past seven seasons.
The play of Johnson also helped Akron stay ahead in a game that Ohio did make a push in.
The Bobcats refused to go away and had a stretch of play that forced Akron to close the game. Despite getting within 13, the Zips shut things down and walked out of the Convo victorious for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
Shammah Scott was particularly good in the second half for Akron scoring 19 points. He and the rest of the Zips played a very solid final 20 and extended the lead handing Ohio their worst home loss under Boals.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourself, can’t complain, you’ve got to get back to work,” Boals said. “Every possession, every game is going to matter. We’ve got to regroup and stay positive.”
Ohio has now reached a major fork in the road. At 5-4 in MAC play and three losses in the last four, they are running out of time to get going. The season is still far from over, but this loss is a major hit to a team with a difficult schedule.
“There’s got to be an urgency. I’ve said this before, this is the best the MAC has been in my seven years,” Boals said. “We’ve got two tough road games and there’s no more important game than the next one.”
Ohio will turn around and face another tough test on the road against Kent State on Tuesday night and then be at Buffalo on Saturday.