No offense to keely but damn.....he is not having a good year. He is killing me with these missed shots under the bucket.

This game gave me hope for the MAC tourney.  Great W

I guess there was some SWAGGER.

I still say Ruck is crazy.

Time to get a new phone.

Is that even a serious question?  

Big time W. Can't say enough about Ivo. Ric came up big on D a couple times too. Good to see the team D step it up in the second half and take care of business. Gotta keep it rollin' now.

Wow. Fun game. I was worried after half as Buffalo was having an easy time scoring. But lots of credit to hand out. Tommy hit some threes early in the 2nd half to help Ohio get its legs back. Then DeVaughn. Then Ivo dominating. Then Cooper closing. I also want to give a lot of credit to Ricardo Johnson. He is out to make something of the 2nd half of his freshman year and is making a difference out there.

This win is nice on so many levels. Not the least of which is that it pretty much assures Ohio of a home game in the 1st round of the MAC Tourney and keeps them in the hunt for a bye.

I'm a big fan of the Cooper, Freeman, Johnson/Kellogg, Baltic and Washington lineup.  I think we see Groce ride these guys the rest of the way.

Cooper seems more hampered with his ankle on defense than offense.  Hall had quite a few defensive lapses as well.  

While people like to get down on Keely, I still think he'll progress.  He seems to still be struggling with the confidence he needs to finish inside.  He gets good looks but they just don't fall.  He could give us 6 boards and 8-10 points with a bit of confidence.  I don't think that will happen this year, I do think he could put up those type of numbers in his Jr and Sr years.

Spread the floor and pick your poison.   Cooper with dribble drive, Baltic in the post, or Freeman for three.  Kellogg and Washington gonna start to get little open.  Johnson, Hall and Keely with contributions off the bench.  Johnson brining the defense and slashing to the paint is a key part.  We turned  up the defensive pressure and got steals. That is Ohio basketball turning defense into offense and attacking the rim. We get into the bonus with all those run outs. We stayed in the hunt tonite.        

Got to watch about 60% of this game on ESPN3 tonight and boy was I surprised.  I thought we'd get kicked in the teeth up there and felt even more sure at 22-11.  Some other thoughts:

*Really shocked at how good we looked in the 2nd half.  For the first time in a long time, I think we have a MAC Tournament "chance."  I had this team for dead and I'm thinking I may be wrong after tonight??????
*Devaughn is playing his best ball of the season.  I still hate the cheap fouls he picks up, which scare me as we approach March, as we need him on the court.
*On the other hand, despite his jumping jack hops Devaughn is soft on the glass. 
*Did you see how many times Cooper was amongst the trees trying to get rebounds?  He appears to really be trying to chip in and help out in this area of need.
*Totally shocked by how Ricardo has taken a couple steps forward these past few games.  Even more props to the coaches for sticking with him.  He's appeared talented all season long, but at that same time he's appeared wild and totally out of control.  Just a few weeks ago I thought he needed to take the remainder of this season off and try it again with a years experience under his belt.  Then suddenly....I hope he takes the Ivo jump next year.
*TJ is also another player I hope takes the Ivo pill.  He's regressed the 2nd half of the season and his playing time diminished, but I think he'll reappear in the years to come.  He's shown sparks and the coaching staff gave him a look, but it appears they've pulled back a bit.
*I'm going to miss Tommy.  Quietly does a solid job every game.  Just like having him on the team and on the court.  On the right team with bigs that needed doubled and slashers that distribute, he'd be even more of an sparkplug everyone would love.
*On the other hand, I have zero tolerance for poor Reggie.  Boy has he struggled most of this season and we sure could use a solid big body in the middle.  He's trying, it just appears he's lost all confidence.  I especially dislike it when Reggie & Sayles are on the court at the same time as you figure you don't want 2 of the 5 guys on the court to get the ball.

Overall, if we can keep the momentum going, tonight was a HUGE shot in the arm.

George- every game I have watched, Cooper was going amongst the bigs to get rebounds and many times suceeding.

WOW was I wrong on this one.
Those last 8 minutes we really increased our energy level and it showed as the calls were going our way.
It was a grest game to watch as our D stepped up over those last 8 minutes and that helped fuel our O.
I'm sure the ride home was a good one.
We made the plays when it counted.








GO BOBCATS