So 28% (call it 30%) of Thomas Wilder's points this season have come at the free throw line. In the last two big games where he went off (40 against Toledo and 34 against Buffalo) he got to the line at least 14 times in those games. He really hasn't shot that well from the field in MAC play except for a handful of games. Miami held him to 13 and 12. EMU held him to 10. Kent held him to 10.

But, in the three games he scored big in MAC play (Toledo x2 and Buffalo), WMU lost the game. So pick your poison. Either you try like hell to slow him down and don't let him get to the FT line (81.6%)...

OR you do what you can against him, but absolutely lock down everyone else on the floor? I'm a little more worried about a guy like Josh Davis (11pts and 7 rebs, 48% FG, 42% three) or if Doug gets in foul trouble and Ohio has no one to bang with Brandon Johnson in the paint.

WMU is 292nd in 3pt FG defense (11th in MAC, Akron is 12th). If the boys can keep up what they did on Tuesday, they should be able to exploit some of their weaknesses there with some quick ball movement.

The one thing they do really well is take care of the basketball. They lead the league in turnover margin by almost double the 2nd ranked team (+3.12), so don't expect a lot of easy buckets. But Ohio has to take advantage of every possession it can get since the Broncos won't be giving it away very much.

KenPom predicts a 76-70 loss, Ohio 29% chance of winning.

- WMU's offense averaging 106.7 points/100 possessions (150th) while Ohio is at 100.8 (250th). The Broncos shoot the three decently (36.1% for 122nd) but shoot the two poorly (46.7% for 285th). What they do best is not turn the ball over. They turn the ball over on just 15.9% of possessions (29th best in the country).

- WMU's defense allowing 106.8 points/100 possessions (208th) while Ohio is at 104.5 (159th). The Broncos allow 37.6% (298th) from three and 50.6% from two (210th). They do force some turnovers. They turn offenses over on 20% of their possessions (100th nationally).

I'll be representing with my wife (WMU grad).

just got back to miami from cruise, stunned to learn of Akron blowout. sweet!

headed to jai alai (me) casino (wife) in an hour, will try to stream wmu game.

good luck fellas!!!

Man what a tough year. These guys usually play hard and I appreciate the effort. The half of basketball I just watched was painful.

12 turnovers, 3 missed layups and the 2018 Bobcats don't seem to understand where the boundary line is under the bucket.

And we are still in the game. Let's hope for a better 2nd half.

Rebound, defend, pass: once we master these skills, we will be a legitimate threat. I believe all of these fundamentals will come more easily with a strong inside presence. Next year can’t come too soon

LOVE THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE! BVP, Carter, Mason McMurray, Connor Murrell, Nathan Springs--we're a year away baby!

So many fan basis would say things like:
*Honestly, we had Gareri on the list of excuses why this year wasn't turning out, he's in the mix now and not relevant. We've never seen BVP play a second and we're counting him as well as a Freshman that would've been a season changer?
*We've won 10 games this year and 5/10 were Alabama A&M, Coppin State, Prairie View, Mt. St. Mary's and Northwestern Ohio. We're in "Dead Freaking Last" in the MAC, but with Carter that would all be different? Honestly, probably not.
*Yes next year you hope to add Carter, but you'll lose you're 2nd and 5th leading scorers in Laster (14.8) and Mickle (8.7). Will that almost be a wash?

I'd have a lot more hair, a lot less wrinkles, a lower blood pressure if I had this "glass if half full" positive mindset. Hope you're correct!

Thanks, Chicken. Yes, I confess to be an optimist.

i also will go out on a limb and predict that at the end of this year, Saul gets an extension. If that happens, there are a few on this board that will need to be on suicide watch for at least a couple of days. We'll be here to give you emotional support when you need it guys and gals.

Note: I said "guys and gals" but it seems to me we've become virtually an all male club here in recent years. We used to have several regular posters from the distaff side. Names I remember that we don't see anymore are: Ohio Alumna, Athena, and even Mrs. Bobcat Love, and several more that I can't remember at the moment. Now, we occasionally get the mother of a player that makes a few posts, but that's about it. We are worse off for the lack of female posters, IMHO.

News Flash: Saul will not get an extension after year 4. You can go back to your regularly scheduled programming. #WhenDidBVPBecomeDanMajerle? #13Months

Hesitant to even respond to this but....based on WHAT exactly? His sense of humor? His awesome family? All good things but not reasons for an extension or a raise sadly.

.455 (30-36) - that's his career MAC winning percentage. (451 if you count his 2-3 MAC tourney record).

Don't get me wrong he's a good guy and deserves next year to try and turn this around IMO, but nothing about that record screams extension or raise to me.

I'm more leaning toward saying if he doesn't finish above 500 in the MAC next year and make a run in Cleveland then it's probably time to move in a new direction. Most likely on someone with a smaller paycheck than Saul currently enjoys.

I'm not kicking our present coach out the door. With all the injuries this year, one would think the injury bug would stay away next season. However in the future, when Ohio makes a change in the coaching staff, don't look for the salary to go down. It has been a practice with our AD to pay the next coach more than the last made.

I agree. From the time that Campbell went down, he averaged 15 and 8. You can't tell me that having that, plus moving everyone else down 1 spot in the rotation wouldn't make a difference.