November 11, 2016
Ohio (3-0) vs Kent State (4-0)
We get a conference opponent in the finals of the preseason NIT. This is my fault, not the game's, as I inserted myself into this tournament in scheduling, I wasn't automatically picked for it. I guess its the game's fault for letting me. Kent State has early wins over St John's and Vanderbilt and appears likely to be our top competition in the MAC this season.
They return 4 starters including Logan Montgomery, best player in the league according to the conference preview stuff. All four returning starters are seniors. They are a very experienced bunch.
We played them last year at the end of the season and even with Montgomery injured they spent the game in a 2-3 zone and we couldn't shoot over it and lost by 18. We did beat them 2 out of 3 times though and hope to have an edge here today.
Scouting
PG R. Parsons – SR – 73 OVR – 87 speed/81 quickness. Outstanding defender(88), not a steals guy so that's good. 79 close/76 med/73 3, not great but can't leave him open. 83 off the dribble. 14 ppg. Parsons has become a very good ball handler(89, B rating for a PG, but we don't see that often in the MAC).
SG Theodore Holland – SR – 75 OVR – A 3 point shooting specialist, rated 87 from behind the arc. He doesn't look to do much else. 82 defense. 7.8 ppg.
SF Logan Montgomery – SR – 82 OVR – 83 speed/83 quickness, good for a SF. 84 vertical/81 hustle, both exceptional. 79 defensive awareness, almost unheard of for this level. Good defense for a SF(84), 87 close/75 med/81 3, 80 off the dribble, 90 in traffic. 14 ppg so far this season.
PF Dominick Bowden – JR – 71 OVR – 6'8”. 83 orb/80 drb, not bad at all. 73 post off/78 post defense. Maye and Bowden combine to form a very formidable defensive front line. 81 close/86 in traffic. 9 ppg/7.5 rpg so far.
C Roburt Maye – SR – 72 OVR – 7'1”, a good defensive rebounder(86) but terrible on the offensive glass(72). 71 post offense/78 post d. 87 close/86 in traffic. 11.5 ppg/5.3 rpg.
They go 9 deep with players rated over 65 OVR. They have two 6'10 bench players, nota ton of talent but good size inside. Their primary scoring threat off the bench is SG Ellis Laws, he's burned us for 3's many times in the past. They do have a giant unity edge, 65-47.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| KSU
| Notes
|
1
| 18:45
| 5
| 4
| McCully has our first 5 points, he hits his first 3 of the year(in a game I played at least). he elevates to maximum height almost immediately with a release i've never seen before. A rebound leading to a fast break dunk gets the 6th man going for us just 1:15 into the game.
|
1
| 15:30
| 17
| 11
| We might both score 100 here today... McCully 11, Santiago 6. They have a couple 3's and Montgomery is scoring pretty well early on. Timeout #2 for Kent State
|
1
| 13:35
| 19
| 13
| Timeout #3 Kent State.
|
1
| 9:00
| 29
| 22
| Backups in finally. 3 6th man boosts and 3 kent state timeouts let our starters go forever. They could have stayed out another minute or two really, but a 5-0 Kent State run after we went up 12 spurred me to go ahead and sub out my guys. Santiago and McCully have either 25 or 27 of our 29 points.
|
1
| 7:00
| 34
| 26
| Play is stopped as Grundy goes out with an injury.
|
1
| 4:45
| 37
| 31
| Well it takes 3 played games with the new injury sliders before we see our first serious injury. Grundy is going to miss a month or more.
|
1
| 3:25
| 40
| 35
| Starters are coming back in as we've let them back within 5.
|
1
| 1:00
| 42
| 43
| Keller gets his 3rd foul and they get a 3 point play that gives them the lead for the first time today.
|
| HALF
| 42
| 48
| A 3 and a turnover/layup near the end of the half and they're all of a sudden beating us by 6 at the half. We got out on the run early and Santiago was hot from 3. But we cool off and cannot beat their 2-3 zone consistently. Montgomery leads them with 12, Laws with 10. They're shooting 55%, 19-34, 3-8 from 3 and 7-9 at the line.
They have a 18-13 rebounding edge as well. We're 15-32, 7-18 from 3. Santiago has 18 and McCully 11, huge starts for both but almost all of that was in the first 7 10 minutes. Mendoza has 6 off the bench.
|
2
| 18:10
| 45
| 55
| We get a 3 point play from Keller but also have two turnovers and have allowed them to go up 10... timeout Ohio.
|
2
| 12:20
| 58
| 64
| We work like crazy to get it back down to 6... Montgomery has 19 and is hitting key shots for them whenever they need one. We had a chance to cut the lead down to 2, McCully with a rare turnover in transition leads to a bucket for them. I call a timeout to get my backups in. I have Snowden at center in place of Grundy... wonderful.
|
2
| 9:30
| 61
| 69
| We hit a 3 to cut it to 3, get a turnover but their center blocks our attempt at a fast break basket(from behind, I thought my guy was clear). They score 5 straight after that, in large part thanks to the fact that they get every rebound on either end for 2 minutes straight.
|
2
| 8:00
| 67
| 69
| Hah! We score on our next trip, their PG drives and takes a tough shot, misses, gets the board, kicks it out for a 3, they miss, their PF gets the board, and we steal it, going in for a layup. Next possession they throw it away and we get a dunk. So we still get no rebounds but go on a 6-0 run nonetheless, earning a 6th man boost in the process.
|
2
| 7:20
| 69
| 69
| Maye misses a post move inside and this time we do get the rebound(Snowden, playing center...), we catch them in man to man defense and get an easy bucket attacking the basket off the dribble. Tie game, timeout Kent State.
|
2
| 6:55
| 69
| 71
| They score on their next trip and our starters are ready to come back in. I call a timeout to get them back immediately. I have 2 timeouts left.
|
2
| 6:30
| 72
| 71
| McCully with the 3 after a kickout from Keller. I'm for now reasonably comfortable taking wide open 3's with McCully. He has 2 this game which helps a lot. Our lead!
|
2
| 6:20
| 72
| 74
| Fucking Montgomery. Seriously. He has 22 now, answers with a 3 immediately.
|
2
| 4:20
| 77
| 76
| They score again and go up 4(Montgomery again). I get a 3 from Murphy, his first of the game I think, he's been cold but was so open. A block inside gets the 6th man going for us, and Bright gets a bucket on an offensive board to put us back on top. Timeout Kent State. We each have 2 left now I think.
|
2
| 4:10
| 77
| 76
| Foul McCully, its our 7th, they're shooting, but miss the front end of the 1 and 1, our ball.
|
2
| 3:45
| 79
| 79
| Fucking Montgomery. McCully with a layup in transition on the other end. Montgomery with a 3 pointer to tie it right back up. I call a timeout b/c the 3 triggers their 6th man.
|
2
| 2:15
| 81
| 81
| Both teams are in the middle of a 6th man boost now... they get a held ball and the arrow is pointing their way. They score, I get an offensive board and bucket from Bright on my end. Tied up, their ball.
|
2
| 1:40
| 84
| 81
| They miss a shot, Bright with his 15th rebound on the day. Santiago hits a 3 on our end to give us the 3 point lead. He's been ice cold, that was a huge shot though.
|
2
| 1:25
| 84
| 84
| Parsons beats the press by himself and just walks right up to the top of the key and strokes a 3 over Murphy... not a single pass, no play being run, he wasn't wide open, impressive. Tie game again. I call my last timeout as that of course triggers another 6th man boost.
|
2
| 0:32
| 87
| 84
| I run the clock down until their 6th man goes back to green(ie goes away completely). I get a shot from McCully but its not an ideal one and it misses. We get the offensive board(Bright or Keller, they have the same body type and I can't tell the difference usually). I kick it out and try to get to the hoop, but their defense is strong. In the end a drive by McCully forces them out of position, not so much that he can get a layup, but enough that it leaves Murphy wide open at the top of the key, he passes, Murphy shoots and drains it!
|
2
| 0:14
| 89
| 84
| Parsons goes for the 3 and misses, bright with the rebound! They only have 4 team fouls so it takes a bit to get us to the line. McCully goes to the line for a 1 and 1... first one good, second one good!
|
They miss one more shot, we make 2 more free throws and seal the game. This is the second game in a row where we made huge plays in the final two minutes of a tie game to earn the win, I'm very very pleased with this.
Ohio 91
Kent State 84
We win the preseason NIT, beating 3 teams rated 80 or better in the process!! Montgomery had an outstanding game for them, 27 points on 10-18 shooting. If he's like this most nights he's a shoe in to win the MAC player of the year award. I wonder if we have to play these guys on the road this year.
Parsons hit a couple big shots down the stretch, and Maye was solid in the post, scoring 13/12 boards on 6-9 shooting.
Murphy: 6 points/7 assists (2-6 from 3, both in the final minutes and both hugely clutch).
McCully: 24 points
Santiago: 24 points (5-12 from 3)
Bright: 10 points/18 boards
Keller: 5 points/1 board
Mendoza: 8 points
Northcutt: 7 points
The loss of Grundy hurts us bad. After Keller's performance in the last couple games I would be benching him for Grundy at this point, Keller has been awful in the starting lineup.