January 31, 2017
#18 Kent State (20-2, 7-1 MAC) at #21 Ohio (20-3, 7-1 MAC)
Well our starting PF and highest rated player, Bright, is out for this game... he's back in 1 more day. But we seem to have the edge in the injury department. Both Bowden and Maye, their starting PF and starting C, are out. Our backups are much higher quality inside than theirs too. As long as they have Parsons/Holland/Montgomery they are a scary team to face regardless. But, we do seem to have a slightly bigger edge from the inside game.
Scouting
PG R. Parsons – SR – 74 OVR – 87 speed/81 quickness. Outstanding defender(89), 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. 10.5 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 – 76 OVR – A 3 point shooting specialist, rated 88 from behind the arc. He doesn't look to do much else. 82 defense. 9.7 ppg.
SF Logan Montgomery – SR – 83 OVR – 83 speed/84 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(85), 88 close/75 med/81 3, 80 off the dribble, 90 in traffic. 14.5 ppg so far this season.
PF Odie Bonfim – SO – 67 OVR – 6'11” - 77 orb/80 drb, 72 post off/67 post def. 82 close/81 in traffic. 2.6 ppg
C Jonpaul Withers – FR – 67 OVR – 6'10” - 80 orb/76 drb. 74 post off/68 post def. 82 close/82 in traffic. He'll improve but for now we have an edge over him no matter who we put out there. 2.7 ppg.
We have a nice edge inside now, but they still have 4 good scorers, the other 3 starters and backup SG Laws. Montgomery scored 27 the first time we played.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| KSU
| Notes
|
1
| 13:05
| 8
| 14
| Backups are in. Montgomery has 7, Holland 4 as they pull out ahead early. Santiago has 3 and is 1-3 from 3, Grundy with 3 also but we're not very effective so far against their 2-3 zone.
|
1
| 10:35
| 16
| 18
| 4 straight from Northcutt cut the lead down to 2. Timeout Kent State
|
1
| 5:30
| 22
| 26
| Withers got the ball in seemingly good position a number of times and missed 4 shots in a row. He's hard to figure out, good post offense, but poor close/traffic ratings. Sometimes I can hit hooks and turnarounds with him well, sometimes not. Starters are back in.
|
| HALF
| 29
| 32
| We score a 3 to make it 26-25, they score 6 straight and go up by 7, and we close it out with the last 4 of the half.. Its a close 3 point game at the half. Holland is killing us inside, he has 11 points, drives to the hoop/backdoor cuts, he's rated 88 from 3 so we have to play him tight, but he's good at using that to his advantage. Montgomery has 7. Their PF Bonfim is having a big day, 6 points/9 boards at the half already.
We've got a hard 8 from Santiago, 6 out of Northcutt and 5 from Grundy. Santiago is 3-8 from the field/2-5 from 3. They have a 21-15 edge on the boards thanks to Bonfim, that's the main difference so far.
|
2
| 18:00
| 31
| 34
| Keller with fouls #3 and #4 in quick succession... Withers in.
|
2
| 16:30
| 36
| 38
| A 3 by Murphy and a steal by Santiago trigger a 6th man bonus, Santiago misses the tying shot though.
|
2
| 16:20
| 39
| 38
| They throw away a pass intended for a big man inside, McCully out on the run, he fakes out Parsons, goes by him for a dunk and draws the foul! FT is good and we're up 1.
|
2
| 12:30
| 51
| 46
| Our bigget lead of the game. Santiago heats up and hits 2 3's in a row, then McCully gets out on the break for 4 straight with a couple misses and steals in between and we push out to our biggest lead. Timeout Kent State. This is our 3rd 6th man bonus of the half so our starters are in good shape.
|
2
| 10:45
| 53
| 46
| Defense is still playing great, and Withers with a big standing dunk to make it 7, another Kent State timeout.
|
2
| 9:05
| 58
| 46
| Go go defense!! Murphy with a transition 3 and McCully with another basket, yet another timeout kent state.
|
2
| 5:40
| 64
| 53
| This is easily the longest stretch i've ever played one squad for. The starters are finally tired and need to sit after 14:20 in the 2nd half. Assuming we hang on to the lead the backups will close out the game for us. Keller is in at center with his 4 fouls.
|
They cut it down to 9 with 4 minutes left... 68-59. We score 5 straight over the next 2 minutes and then run the clock out.
Ohio 78
Kent State 61
The matchup was more favorable for us than the first meeting in the preseason NIT, but, we still had to take care of business. The MAC title is now ours to lose.
Holland with 17, Montgomery with 13 for them. Their backup PF had a great day with 10 points and 13 boards.
Murphy: 6 points
McCully: 15 points
Santiago: 18 points (4-10 from 3)
Grundy: 7 points/11 boards
Keller: 10 points/6 boards
Northcutt: 9 points
Great win!