BGSU men’s basketball (9-15, 3-8) fell to Ohio (13-11, 7-4) in a back-and-forth game at the Stroh Center on Tuesday evening, 86-81.
The story of the game was undoubtedly fouls — with the teams committing a combined 40.
Bowling Green committed a season-high 28 fouls, with 19 coming in the final 20 minutes of the game.
“I don’t have any answers on what that was in the second half at all. I felt like we were being aggressive on the offensive end, and it would kind of stay the same as the first half, and on the defensive end, it was don’t breathe,” BGSU head coach Todd Simon said. “So, you know, it’s hard.”
Senior guard Trey Thomas and junior guard Javontae Campbell both got in foul trouble in the first half, committing three apiece.
“We had some funky lineups with Trey and Javontae both in foul trouble in that first half; it puts you in some peculiar positions,” Simon said. “Trey and Javontae get us organized very well, and I didn’t think we got very organized without them two in the game.”
After heading into halftime with a two-point advantage, OU outscored the Falcons 54-47 in the second half. BGSU tried numerous strategies on defense — none of which had sustained success.
“We tried some zone, we tried a couple different things, and none of it was to their liking,” Simon said. “So, we just have to adjust and move on.”
Five Falcons committed at least four personal fouls, affecting BG’s rotations and resulting in senior forward Marcus Johnson, the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) leading scorer, fouling out late in the contest after scoring a game-high 21 points.
“We had to leave Marcus up there longer than we wanted to,” Simon said. “We had some sub pattern issues I thought that were affected by some of the foul trouble.”
Bowling Green’s free throw shooting did not help in their attempt to complete a comeback late in the game. While Ohio shot a stellar 30-34 from the charity stripe, the Falcons struggled, making just 16 of their 25 free throw attempts.
BG was also nearly shutout in the fast break category, getting outscored 25-3 in transition by the Bobcats.
“When you’re taking the ball under the net after a free throw on 26 in the second half, you don’t have any opportunities to run,” Simon said. “That’s the bottom line of the game; there just isn’t enough possessions that we weren’t taking it out on a dead ball, and that just completely kills your break.”
Ohio’s plan in the second half was simple and one that the Orange and Brown did not find a solution for.
“I mean, it was basically just spread us out and drive into our chest, and we’ve got to coach that better,” Simon said.
For Bowling Green, the Ohio loss is the latest in close defeats against top teams in the MAC.
“With Akron, Ohio, Miami, three very good teams, and we were there right there at the end, and we have to make those big plays,” Simon said.
Next, Simon and the Falcons will head on the road to battle Buffalo in New York on Saturday at 2 p.m.
