February 15, 2017
#15 Ohio (24-3, 11-1 MAC) at Western Michigan (9-15, 5-7 MAC)
This is similar to our last game... a road contest at a team we should beat, but who is not as bad as their record shows and could scare us.
WMU is rated 77 OVR (79 off/75 def/78 sht/78 reb/87 coach).
With development we have finally gained an overall ratings point on our roster strength page... 85 OVR (85 off/83 def/88 sht/89 reb/80 coach). Probably because we've had an extra scholarship.. and have had to go to multiple backup targets, we've had to use a lot more coaching visits this year, and it seems to have slightly, but noticeably, slowed player development.
Scouting
PG Shawan Whitaker – SR – 71 OVR – 91 speed/84 quickness. Awful defender, 79 def. 81 close/72 med/66 3. 82 off the dribble which is solid, buthe doesn't seem to have anything else to go with it to make him scary at all. 7.4 ppg nonetheless
SG Demetrieus Mayer – JR– 75 OVR - 85 speed/80 quickness, not that good really, C- quickness. 84 defense/79 steals, not bad at all. 89 close/74 med/84 3, 73 off the dribble/74 in traffic. 8 ppg/5.4 rpg. Great shooting but terrible at creating his own shot it would appear.
SF LJ Haigler – SO – 70 OVR – 6'7, a larger SF. 79 defese/64 steals. 87 close/73 med/68 3. terrible off the dribble, even more terrible in traffic. 58 defensive awareness... horrible. 6.9 ppg/4.4 rpg. We should own this guy.
PF Harrison Mark – JR – 67 OVR – only 6'7”. 66 orb/69 drb... those are SF or even SG numbers. 74 post offense/72 post defense. 82 close/80 in traffic. Laughable, I'm surprised he's not rated wore than 67. 4.6 ppg. He's a JC Transfer so this is his first year.
C Cornelio Bernard – SR – 72 OVR – 6'11” 78 orb/83 drb, 79 post off/76 post def. Not much of a shot blocker. Strong, 76 str (B+). 84 close/86 in traffic, which is about average. 11.7 ppg/5.8 rpg, a large increase over last season.
They have some decent depth. Backup Center Edwin Christy off the bench scores 10 ppg.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| WMU
| Notes
|
1
| 13:00
| 16
| 14
| Backups in. We spend 4 minutes working our way out to a 9-0 start to the game. Then they score 6 in about 15 seconds... and they're shooting very well since, keeping it close.
|
1
| 10:30
| 24
| 16
| They call a timeout. This is going to be a very high scoring game I think. At least for Ohio. Whether WMU can keep up remains to be seen..
|
1
| 6:00
| 37
| 23
| It seems unlikely they can keep up. Starters back in.
|
| HALF
| 48
| 39
| I lead 46-30 and allow them to finish the half on a 9-2 run, pressing too hard to get it up to where I'm willingn to mercy rule game since things were flowing so well for awhile. They get 13 from SG Mayer, 8 from C Bernard, and 7 from PG Whitaker.
I have 13 from McCully, 8 from Santiago though its a rough 8 again, 1-8 from 3 in the process. Northcutt and garcia keyed our big run with the backups with 8 and 7 respectively.
|
2
| 17:15
| 56
| 44
| Bright with his 4th foul. Withers in. The offense seems to be flowing well again.
|
2
| 15:55
| 61
| 46
| 3 by Santiago, deuce from Keller and they call a timeout.
|
We get the lead up to 25 before the 13 minute mark and I go ahead and sim this one out.
Ohio 95
Western Michigan 79
Murphy: 2 points/5 assists
McCully: 17 points
Santiago: 20 points
Bright: 4 points/9 boards
Keller: 12 points/7 boards
Garcia: 9 points
Mendoza, Northcutt and Grundy all score 8