Nobody to blame for this loss but ourselves. Too many mistakes. Too many turnovers, I counted a minimum of 4 if not 5 missed shots at the rim. I know Setty had 3 of them, and obviously the missed free throws. All that being said, for a huge part of the second half it was a 1-2 possession game and we had more than enough chances to tie or take a lead. Open shots didn't go down. It was disappointing all around, considering how winnable the game was.

I thought Doug Taylor looked good when he stepped in for Campbell late in the 1st half. He held his own defensively and was able to get some good looks up in the low post. That encourages me about what he will be able to give us moving forward.

Next year we still have Campbell. After that, Taylor is going to be our go to PF who is more of a banger rather than a Setty type hybrid-wing.

No kidding, there are always so many empty seats in the 100 levels, but you never see them for sale as single game options on ohiobobcats.com. You hardly see any on Stubhub, Vividseat, etc. either. I bought two tickets to NIU this Saturday in Section 3 on Stubhub and they were 2 of maybe six available in the lower bowl. What the heck is happening to all those tickets?

This year the tournament goes back to the single bye for the top 4 teams. While still an advantage, it's not the insurmountable advantage the double / triple bye been the last few years.

As a side note... If the MAC Tournament started today, Ohio would be the #7 seed. (https://twitter.com/MACSports/status/694747329748975616 ) It will settle out some, but right now the middle of the pack is pretty bunched up.

I think this game came down to uncharacteristic missed FT's, and a few too many turnovers and simple mistakes. I was looking that the stats with about 2:30 to go, and if our guys had made their usual 75%, the game would have been a one possession game instead of an 8-9pt game. Take away the 2-3 turnovers that led to easy points, and/or the two late tip in's that were allowed, and they're right there. It was an opportunity missed, that's for sure.

Last 4 minutes play-by-play posted below. A lot of things in here you don't like:

-At the 2:17 mark, Treg takes a quick 3 just nine seconds after Akron scores. Ohio was down nine at the time. Certainly not a time to start chucking 3s.

-At 4:08, forgot how much of a killer that floater by Jackson was with the shot clock winding down.

-Lots of turnovers, fouls and missed free throws down the stretch.

4:38 63-60 Antonio Campbell made Layup. Assisted by Jaaron Simmons.
4:08 Antino Jackson made Layup. 65-60
3:55 65-60 Jaaron Simmons Turnover.
3:55 Noah Robotham Steal. 65-60
3:53 65-60 Foul on Kenny Kaminski.
3:53 Official TV Timeout
3:53 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 66-60
3:53 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 67-60
3:40 67-60 Antonio Campbell Turnover.
3:40 67-60 Foul on Antonio Campbell.
3:33 67-60 Foul on Treg Setty.
3:33 Reggie McAdams missed Free Throw. 67-60
3:33 67-60 Antonio Campbell Defensive Rebound.
3:26 Foul on Pat Forsythe. 67-60
3:26 67-61 Jaaron Simmons made Free Throw.
3:26 67-61 Jaaron Simmons missed Free Throw.
3:26 Isaiah Johnson Defensive Rebound. 67-61
3:01 Antino Jackson missed Jumper. 67-61
3:01 Reggie McAdams Offensive Rebound. 67-61
2:58 Reggie McAdams made Layup. 69-61
2:52 Foul on Antino Jackson. 69-61
2:52 69-61 Jaaron Simmons missed Free Throw.
2:52 69-61 Ohio Deadball Team Rebound.
2:52 69-62 Jaaron Simmons made Free Throw.
2:29 Reggie McAdams missed Three Point Jumper. 69-62
2:29 Jake Kretzer Offensive Rebound. 69-62
2:26 Jake Kretzer made Layup. 71-62
2:17 71-62 Treg Setty missed Three Point Jumper.
2:17 Noah Robotham Defensive Rebound. 71-62
1:51 Noah Robotham missed Layup. 71-62
1:51 71-62 Antonio Campbell Defensive Rebound.
1:46 Foul on Antino Jackson. 71-62
1:46 71-62 Jaaron Simmons missed Free Throw.
1:46 71-62 Ohio Deadball Team Rebound.
1:46 71-63 Jaaron Simmons made Free Throw.
1:37 71-63 Foul on Jaaron Simmons.
1:37 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 72-63
1:37 Noah Robotham missed Free Throw. 72-63
1:37 72-63 Treg Setty Defensive Rebound.
1:27 72-65 Treg Setty made Layup.
1:23 Ohio Timeout
1:20 72-65 Foul on Mike Laster.
1:20 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 73-65
1:20 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 74-65
1:13 74-65 Kenny Kaminski missed Three Point Jumper.
1:13 Noah Robotham Defensive Rebound. 74-65
1:05 74-65 Foul on Jordan Dartis.
1:05 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 75-65
1:05 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 76-65
0:51 76-65 Kenny Kaminski missed Layup.
0:51 Josh Williams Defensive Rebound. 76-65
0:40 76-65 Foul on Treg Setty.
0:40 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 77-65
0:40 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 78-65
0:23 78-65 Foul on Jaaron Simmons.
0:23 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 79-65
0:23 Noah Robotham made Free Throw. 80-65
0:12 80-68 Gavin Block made Three Point Jumper. Assisted by Mike Laster.
0:00 End of Game

He was a difference maker last night but his play brings up one of my biggest pet peeves. I hate that big men can just back down a defender a foot at a time. Allowing that makes it impossible to defend some players (see Shaq). If you are in good position and the man with the ball hits you with his butt and knocks you back a foot that should be a charge. If the defender did the same thing he would be called for a foul.

Agreed. If anything we were too aggressive. That and Akron is a very good team particularly now that they are getting everybody healthy. That being said I thought we showed we can play with them. We just shot ourselves in the foot way too often. For a good FT shooting team we could not afford to have a night like we did last night. Add stretches where we forced shots, particularly some contested threes early in the shot clock. Any loss is frustrating to watch but there were quite a few positive takeaways as well.

Taking that a step further, how many times has Tony been called for that in his career on the offensive end? Sometimes the defender would just fall over and they called the charge.

I don't know that anyone other than Gavin or Treg has taken a charge this year. Someone needs to step in the lane.

I do think there is a tendency based on how our team plays defense for 3pt shooters to get open in the corners on the back side of either a double team, or help defense. I don't sit and watch tape, but it seems like a tendency to me.

+1

Basketball observations:

- We could've easily had that game and I thought it was pretty even play. I come away thinking we can hang with them.
- We didn't catch many breaks...the 2 that come to mind are the 3 pointer that everyone thought was after the shot clock (their first points of the game), and the Akron player stepping out of bounds on the baseline before dishing it out for a 3. Add to that lots of balls rolling around and off our rim and the free throw shooting and I just felt we weren't catching many breaks.
- That said, they could've hurt us a lot more than they did with their 3 point shooting. Given the amount of open looks they had, we have to be happy with their 32%.
- Simmons was erratic...he has some good moves and ball handling skills but takes too many risks. Reminds me of Brett Favre at QB.
- I feel really comfortable with our bigs with Tony, Wadley, and now Doug Taylor. I'd like to see 2 of the 3 on the court at the same time every now and then.
- No denying KK has been disappointing. I'm still happy to have him and hopeful, but his shooting just hasn't been as advertised and not enough to make up for some other flaws in his game. Still believe he can click at any moment.
- I really wanted this one, everyone in the building did. I hate losing to them.

Non-Basketball observation:

- I'm so happy Kretzer will never be in the Convo again. I'm sure he and his family are lovely people, but I'm done seeing them.
- The new frozen lemonade is delicious by the way. It isn't chunky like a sno-cone, but isn't runny like a slushy. Bravo and happy to have my seats so closely located to their booth.
- Halftimes are brutal these days. Nothing against the singers, I just don't look for that in my halftime entertainment. And if we do have singers, let's give them better audio equipment so it sounds better.
- It is embarrassing to have so many floor seats empty for TV purposes. Would be nice to have a seat upgrade lottery or something to fill those seats, but it is hard when they're sold just unused.

I'm 220 miles from the Convo. I get season tickets and make 5-6 games a year, almost never on weekdays. I'd happily give my tickets away to someone in need, but I'd rather see the school sell tickets and get more revenue. My barren lower bowl seats are essentially a donation, and it's not like there aren't plenty of options to buy other ones.