March 13, 2013 – MAC First Round
Ohio (15-13, 9-7 MAC) vs Northern Illinois (12-18, 7-9 MAC)
N. Illinois is rated 77 OVR (78 off/77 def/79 sht/84 reb). We split 2 games with them, winning easily at home and losing badly on the road. The home game I played out, it was close for a half and we blew it open in the 2
nd half. Their starting center was out the last time we played them, so that is a change in their lineup this time around.
Scouting
PG FR Simplice Butt – FR – 71 OVR – What the hell kind of name is Simplice Butt. 88 speed/81 quickness. Pretty good ball handler and passer, average defense(79). Outstanding long range shooter (78 close/70 med/80 3). Only 5 ppg but we expect him to score a lot more against us.
SG Jeff Graves – JR – 70 OVR - A JC transfer so this is his first year in division 1. Above average all over... 85 speed/83 quick, 81 defense, just an average shooter though, 83 close/74 med/69 3. Averaging 7.1 ppg this year so far.
SF Tom Hanaven – FR – 69 OVR – A 6'4” SG playing SF. 84 speed/85 quickness. 81 defense, 85 close/71 med/65 3. Not really good off the dribble(74), more of a spotup shooter it appears. Averaging 7.1 ppg.
PF Erick Floyd – FR – 74 OVR – Only 6'6, average post numbers(77 o/74 d), above average on the boards, 80 in close and 84 in traffic, his best traits. Decent speed for a PF and decent Defensive Awareness (72). Averaging 7.1 ppg/6.6 rpg so far this year.
C Christian Watson – JR – 71 OVR – 6'10”, outstanding offensive rebounder (87) and above average defensive (81). Not that great in the post (71 off/74 def). Not much of a scorer (83 close, though he is 88 in traffic). 9.4 ppg/5.4 rpg.
They don't have anyone rated over 81 out on the perimeter for defense, so Cooper and Massey can hopefully get to the basket quite a bit.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| NIU
| Notes
|
1
| 13:15
| 11
| 12
| We are not playing terribly well so far but have gotten a few offensive boards and second chance buckets. Cooper has a 3 as well. Massey has missed two jumpers that are well within his range.
|
1
| 11:00
| 21
| 14
| 5 point possession for Ohio. Flowers is fouled shooting a 3, makes the first two, misses the 3rd but we get the board, and Flowers hits a 3. Flowers has 8 already, 2 3's and the 2 Fts. Timeout NIU.
|
1
| 8:15
| 25
| 20
| We call a timeout to avoid a held ball situation. We'd run the score up to 25-14 but they've come back with 6 straight. 4 missed FT's from Lamkin isn't helping.
|
1
| 6:30
| 27
| 20
| Starters are coming back in.
|
1
| 6:00
| 30
| 20
| Massey makes a 3 pointer. This alone is worth a comment.
|
1
| 4:20
| 36
| 20
| This is worth noting too. We force a bad shot after playing 30 seconds of great defense, and Massey hits a mid-range jumper. Then cooper with a steal, outlet to massey for the layup. Then Sessoms with a block, outlet to Massey for the layup. That's 9 points in a row, slumpbuster maybe? As a team we're on an 11-0 run. Timeout NIU.
|
| HALF
| 38
| 32
| Geeze... so bad. We score again(Sessoms) to go up 18, and then they go on a 12-0 run to finish off the half. They hit 2 threes, and our turnovers really triggered the run.
Butt leads them with 11. Their SG Graves has 7, no one else with more than 4. They're shooting 15-31 from the field, but only 2-10 from 3.
Wow. Most infuriating stat ever. We are 2-9 from the FT line as a team in the first half. Totally inexcusable. Massey leads us with 11, Flowers 8, Lamkin 6.
|
2
| 14:30
| 51
| 41
| We've extended the lead back out to 10. Sessoms has been on fire this half, with 3 buckets in the post and a free throw.
|
2
| 13:10
| 53
| 41
| Backups are coming in.
|
2
| 7:25
| 66
| 50
| We've pushed the lead up to 16 with the backups, Lamkin and Flowers have both done some good things,and Dahi actually got a bucket as well. We're starting to slow the game down a little here.
|
2
| 5:30
| 70
| 54
| Starters are back in to finish it off.
|
For the last 5 minutes I basically wait until 15 seconds left on the shot clock to run anything at all, and then look for an easy shot for Cooper or a post look. I get a few more points, a couple offensive boards and effectively run out the final 5 minutes.
Ohio 76
Northern Illinois 63
Butt ends up with 18 for them, and their PF Floyd scores 10, but they didn't quite have enough to hang with us today.
Massey: 13 points (1-7 from 3, only 2 2
nd half points)
Cooper: 9 points (4-5/1-1 from 3, just didn't shoot a lot)
Lufkin: 5 points/7 boards
Delic: 3 points/3 boards
Sessoms: 13 points/9 boards
Flowers: 12 points
Lamkin: 11 points
The guards were awesome off the bench today. Sessoms earned player of the game honors with his near double-double.