Ohio Bobcats Basketball

As the seconds ticked away, Chauncey Gilliam raised his arms in excitement toward the Akron crowd in anticipation of victory. After all they had endured, step one was finally complete.

Playing without their starting point guard, Gilliam scored 13 points and Demetrius Treadwell added a double-double for the second consecutive night as the Zips earned their third Mid-American Conference Tournament title in five years with a 65-46 drubbing of Ohio to avenge last year's title-game loss to the Bobcats and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

“It feels great,” said Zeke Marshall, the MAC Defensive of the Player who scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. “We had a chip on our shoulder ever since.”

Treadwell was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player with 13 points and 10 rebounds, a night after going for 14 and 12 against Kent State, to help the Zips (26-6) sweep all three games from their bitter rivals.

“I’m just happy we won and we’re moving on to the NCAA tournament,” said Treadwell.

Reggie Keely was the only player in double figures for Ohio (24-9), finishing with 19 points. Walter Offutt chipped in nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

MAC Player of the Year D.J. Cooper was held without a field goal for just the second time in his illustrious career, finishing 0-of-8 from the field and scoring a season-low three points. Cooper came into the game averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 assists (six games) in Cleveland since scoring 23 in the 2010 Championship game vs. Akron.

“It was just one of those games, definitely unacceptable,” said Cooper who had six assists and five turnovers. “I apologize to my teammates…the ball didn’t fall how it usually does.”

"D.J. is such a great player, let's face it, when he doesn't play well it's hard for us to score," said Ohio coach Jim Christian.

After leading by three at the break, Ohio went ice-cold in the final 20 minutes, shooting a measly 18.5 percent (5-of-27) including 0-of-12 from long range. The Bobcats led the MAC in three-point makes (261) and were second in three-point percentage (35.7) coming into the game.

“It’s real disappointing,” said a melancholy Keely. “We came out here to win a championship. We came to cement our legacy and we couldn’t get it done.”

Ohio shot just 33.3 percent for the game in part because of its inability to break down the Akron defense. For the third time this season, the Zips primarily used the 6’7” Treadwell to guard the 5’11” Cooper and it again worked in the Zips' favor.

When Ohio ran its typical heavy dose of pick-n-roll, the seven-foot Marshall switched out onto the senior guard and kept him from driving into the lane.

“We matched up well enough that we could take away some of their strengths and our guys just showed tremendous toughness on the defensive end,” said Akron coach Keith Dambrot.

Despite the awful shooting performance, Ohio hung around and was down just six after a Cooper free throw with 7:49 remaining. But the Zips locked all windows and doors over the final seven minutes, using an 18-3 run to open up a 63-42 lead with two minutes remaining.

Ohio was held without a field goal from the 11:30 mark of the second half until the 1:37 mark, missing 10 straight shots during the stretch.

“It was a game of two halves,” said Christian. “We played hard, we just couldn’t make a shot. It’s unfortunate because we worked hard to get ourselves in this position.”

Like they did in the two regular-season matchups, Ohio jumped out to an early lead behind Keely. The senior forward scored Ohio’s first eight points, going right at Marshall for three layups before hitting a foul-line jumper.

He added a hook shot a minute later to spark a 10-0 Ohio run. Keely made his first five shots and scored 14 of Ohio’s 29 first-half points.

With Akron’s starting point guard Alex Abreu suspended from the team indefinitely, the Zips struggled to take care of the ball early on, and his absence was tangible during the 10-0 run by Ohio. The Zips committed four turnovers during the run, including three in a row from Nick Harney.

Offutt connected on Ohio’s only three of the game to put the Bobcats ahead 19-12, and they extended the lead to 25-16 with seven minutes left, thanks in part to eight points off the seven early turnovers by the Zips.

Akron, which led the MAC in offensive rebounding and total rebounding, began to attack the glass, grabbing six offensive rebounds, which led to five second-chance points as they climbed within a point with 35 seconds left in the half.

However, T.J. Hall’s driving layup rolled in at the halftime buzzer to restore a three-point Ohio lead. The Bobcats outscored the Zips 20-16 in the paint and shot 48.1 percent (13-27) from the floor in the half.

But it all came apart for Ohio in the second half.

Less than three minutes in, Treadwell was called for an over-the-back foul and slammed the floor with disgust, drawing a technical foul. Cooper made both technical free throws for his first two points of the game, but the sequence energized the Zips.

Moments after the incident, Treadwell gave Akron its first lead since the opening minutes of the game with a layup in traffic. Gilliam hit a wing three-pointer in transition, and Carmelo Betancourt stole Nick Kellogg’s wayward pass and scored a breakaway layup to give the Zips a 40-33 lead with 13:52 to play.

Akron outscored Ohio 14-4 to begin the second half as the Bobcats missed 11 of their first 12 second-half shots.

"I felt like it picked me up about four or five notches and it got our team cranked up, too," Treadwell said of his technical. "It got us all into the game."

In desperate need of a basket, Cooper finally found space in the lane and dished to Jon Smith for a layup to halt Akron’s run.

But the relentlessness of Treadwell and the Zips seemed to tire the Bobcats as the game wore on. Akron was quicker to loose balls on multiple occasions leading to extra possessions, which helped them pull away in the final eight minutes.

Cooper was called for a questionable charging foul on a fast-break layup attempt with Ohio down 42-37, then back-rimmed an open three near the top of the key and slapped his hands together in agony.

“We let our frustration and are inability to make shots or finish plays, affect the defensive end of the ball,” said Christian. "We didn't play the next play, we played the last play."

Hall airmailed an open three-pointer on Ohio’s next possession, which was indicative of Ohio’s second-half shooting woes.

The Zips then slowly began to pull away. Harney converted a three-point play to give the Zips their biggest lead of the game at 50-39 and Akron could sense the title after a beautiful reverse layup from Treadwell made it 56-42 with 4:40 to go.

From there, Akron coasted to victory.

Ohio is likely to continue postseason play and will learn what tournament they’ll play in on Sunday night.

“The NCAA Tournament was definitely the goal,” said Cooper when asked how the team would respond if its season was extended. “It’s a blessing to be out here to play ball, especially for us seniors. I’m going to cherish it regardless of wherever we’re playing in my last few games.”

Notes: Ohio is now 6-2 all-time in MAC Championship games…the Bobcats came into the evening having won 10 of their previous 11 MAC Tournament games...the 2013 All-MAC Tournament Team was announced after the game with Keely, Cooper, Treadwell, Marshall and Kent State's Chris Evans making the five-man squad...the crowd of 12,102 was the fifth largest crowd in MAC tournament history and fourth largest for a title game.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Mark Twain once said, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

Stevie Taylor may be the smallest player on the court and Jon Smith may be the skinniest, but the two came off the bench to fuel Ohio’s 58-54 comeback victory over rival Miami (OH) to earn a share of the Mid-American Conference regular season title.

“It feels good because it’s a goal accomplished, but we got more goals,” said Smith on winning the program’s first regular season title since 1994 and its 10th overall. Ohio also tied a program record with 14 MAC wins.

Ohio honored seniors Nick Goff, David McKinley, Walter Offutt, Ivo Baltic, Reggie Keely and D.J. Cooper in a short ceremony prior to the game. McKinley, a fan-favorite, made his first career start. With the win, the class has now won a program-record 93 games and has the most postseason victories of any class with 12. Stevie Taylor was more than happy to help out the seniors in their last game at the Convocation Center.

“I just wanted to send the seniors out on a good note and I wanted the championship so bad,” said Taylor, who finished with eight points and three steals. “I was going to have to do whatever I needed to do.”

Cooper led Ohio (23-8, 14-2) with 17 points, but it was Smith and Taylor who sparked a 15-0 run down the stretch to help turn a 12-point deficit into a three-point lead.

“We showed courage in the last 12 minutes of the game,” said Ohio head coach Jim Christian. “I was really proud of the way we fought to get a share of that championship on a night that we didn’t play well and had to find a way.”

Smith finished with nine points and a season-high 10 rebounds, helping Ohio’s bench outscore Miami’s 23-12.

“It meant everything,” said Cooper of the performance from Smith and Taylor. “Jon was doing the little stuff…Stevie came in and gave us the spark. He’s putting in extra work and it’s paying off. When you work hard, good things happen.”

Cooper drained his signature NBA-range three from the right wing to put Ohio on the board, but after jumping out to a 15-9 lead, the Bobcats struggled offensively.

Ohio committed four straight turnovers and had seven in the opening 12 minutes, allowing the RedHawks—who missed 14 of their first 17 shots—to hang around. Late in the half, the Bobcats missed four straight point-blank shots before T.J. Hall committed a foul out of frustration. A possession later, Smith was called for offensive basket interference to negate a score.

“(On) senior night, you just really never know how seniors are going to react,” said Christian. “I thought it kind of drained us, we came out a little bit flat and obviously in the first half didn’t play very well on the offensive end of the floor. We couldn’t make any shots, didn’t have any flow or rhythm.”

Miami (8-21, 3-13) finally found their rhythm and closed the half with a 9-1 run to take a 28-22 advantage into halftime. The RedHawks dominated the Bobcats in the paint, outscoring the Green and White 18-2 in the first 20 minutes.

Cooper carried the offense in the first half, scoring 10 of the Bobcats 22 points on 3-of-10 shooting. The rest of the team shot 3-of-22 from the floor.

Miami began to pull-away in the second half. After a Keely dunk, Quinten Rollins quieted the crowd with a layup on the other end and Reggie Johnson followed with a pull-up jumper in transition to give Miami its largest lead of the game, 41-29 with 14:03 to play.

A free throw from Geovonie McKnight gave Miami a 44-32 lead with 11:58 to play, before Ohio came roaring back.

Taylor kick-started the run with a long three-pointer from the left wing before Smith scored five straight points, including four on one possession. Smith scored a basket and was fouled but missed the free throw. Instead of sulking, he raced down the lane and tipped in the miss, bringing the crowd to its feet.

“I was really disappointed with what I did in the first half,” said Smith, who missed four put-backs in the opening 20 minutes. “Coach in the locker room was like ‘just play.’ I listened to him. I didn’t really think, I just went out and just tried to have a high motor.”

Offutt scored on a baseline drive and Smith connected on a free throw to cut the deficit to two. That’s when Taylor’s defense took over.

The pesky guard generously listed at 5'10", stole McKnight’s pass and laid in the game-tying layup, then he stripped McKnight once again and found Cooper open in front of the Ohio bench for a transition three to hand Ohio a 47-44 lead, sending the crowd of 8,428 into an absolute frenzy with 7:04 to play.

“I always analyze our team and analyze what can I do to help and coach called my number and I had to produce,” said Taylor, who was wearing a piece of the net the Bobcats cut down after the game.

“They got on a run,” said Miami head coach John Cooper. “They made some shots and they were able to force some turnovers. They were live-ball turnovers, and those lead to typically transition buckets.”

Will Sullivan stopped the bleeding momentarily with a layup as the shot clock expired, but Baltic canned just his ninth three-pointer of the season to extend the lead to four.

The teams traded points until Hall gathered Nick Kellogg’s missed three-point attempt and laid it in for a 56-52 lead with 1:18 to play.

Will Felder, who led the RedHawks with 20 points, hit a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left to trim Ohio’s lead back to two.

With the shot clock winding down, Cooper kicked to Kellogg in the corner. The junior guard was at that point 0-of-4 from the field, all on shots from beyond the arc. This time, he decided to try his luck inside the three-point line. His shot fake sent Sullivan flying by as he took one dribble and calmly sank an 18-footer for his only points of the game to give Ohio a four-point lead with 24 seconds remaining.

As they did all game long, Ohio sealed the victory with defense.

Smith swatted Rollins’ layup attempt out of bounds, and then Kellogg tied up McKnight for a jump ball, allowing Ohio to regain possession and run the clock out.

Ohio now heads to Cleveland for the MAC tournament, which begins Monday, with first round games being played at the higher seeds’ campus. As the No. 2 seed, the Bobcats earned a bye into the semifinal and won’t play until Friday (March 15).

“We celebrate tonight and then tomorrow it’s on to the tourney,” said Smith.

“We just got to have a strong week of preparation and just bring it,” added Cooper.

Friday’s game is scheduled to tip-off at 9 p.m. from Quicken Loans Arena.

Notes: The RedHawks dressed just nine players and were without leading scorer Allen Roberts (12.9 points) for the second straight game. Roberts will miss the rest of the season with a slight meniscus tear.

Here's the MAC Tournament bracket, via MAC-Sports:

This article first appeared on speakeasyohiou.com, a student-run online publication at Ohio University.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Very rarely does a game billed as one of the best matchups in conference history live up to the hype, but this game was everything and then some.

In a clash between the Mid-American Conference’s top two teams, it was No. 1 Akron who outlasted No. 2 Ohio 88-81 in overtime on Thursday night. The victory all but wrapped up a second consecutive MAC regular season title for the Zips.

“It was a battle of attrition at the end,” said Akron coach Keith Dambrot. “Both teams were dead tired. The fans got their money’s worth tonight.”

The Zips (23-4, 13-0) extended their nation-leading winning streak to 19 games, and became the first team in MAC history to start 13-0 in conference play. 

Akron overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to beat Ohio (20-8, 11-2) ending the Bobcats' 19-game conference home winning streak. In the process, the Zips also handed the Bobcats just their third home loss in their last 40 contests at the Convocation Center.

The Convocation Center held its second-largest crowd of the season, with 11,109 frenzied spectators on hand to watch the Green and White.

“This was probably the hardest environment that I’ve ever coached in, very difficult, the fans were great,” said Dambrot.

Demetrius Treadwell led No. 24 Akron with 21 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Jake Kretzer came off the bench to score 16 of his career-high 19 points in the second half and overtime, shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field with five three-pointers. Center Zeke Marshall added 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Zips.

D.J. Cooper scored a season-high 26 points for Ohio, while Walter Offutt posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the ‘Cats fell to 3-5 all-time at home against ranked opponents.

The Zips fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit and never trailed for the rest of the game, but were unable to put the Bobcats away, never leading by more than six points in regulation.

Akron held a 72-68 lead with under a minute to play, but Reggie Keely drew Marshall’s fifth foul and finished the baby hook shot to bring Ohio within two with 47 seconds remaining. Keely missed the free throw, but after Treadwell missed a foul-line jumper, the Bobcats had a chance to once again tie the game.

Offutt missed a go-ahead three-pointer from the left wing, but Jon Smith tipped in the miss with 0.7 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.

Even without their star center, the Zips controlled the extra session, scoring eight of the first nine points. They out-muscled the Bobcats for three key offensive rebounds, one of which led to a three-point play from Treadwell with 2:17 to play, giving Akron a six-point lead.

The Bobcats never came closer than five points the rest of the way. The Zips made 10 of 13 free throws in overtime.

“To come back in this building, I can’t tell you how impressed I am with our guys to do that,” said Dambrot. “I think that was a terrific performance.”

Ohio head coach Jim Christian was proud of his team’s effort, but was disappointed in the final minutes.

“We showed great courage to get the game into overtime,” said Christian, “they just out-toughed us in the last three minutes of the game and that’s a little disappointing,”

Akron shot 50 percent in the second half and the extra session, while Ohio mustered a meager 32.5 percent shooting performance over the same time frame.

“When we get them down like that we’ve just got to continue to get stops,” added Offutt.  “I don’t think it falls too much on our offense. Sometimes shots are not going to go in, but you’ve just got to tough it out on defense.”

The Zips landed the first punch when Alex Abreu quieted the rowdy Ohio fans with a three-pointer 10 seconds into the game, sparking a 9-0 lead just 2:16 into the game.

Ohio responded with nine points of its own, during which Cooper and Nick Harney were hit with double technicals after Cooper took exception to Harney’s foul on him at the top of the key.

With the game knotted at 13, the 'Cats went on a 21-3 tear capped by a monster dunk from Keely over Treadwell to give Ohio a 34-16 lead. Cooper, T.J. Hall and Travis Wilkins all scored five points during the run as the Bobcats held the Zips to just one field goal over seven-plus minutes.

“I thought the first half, we played probably as well as we’ve played in a month,” said Christian.

But just as they overcame an early 13-point deficit in winning the season’s first matchup, the Zips battled back in the second half, bolting out of halftime with a 19-4 run in the first 6:05 to reclaim the lead. Marshall was a force on both ends, stuffing Keely at the rim, leading to Harney’s breakaway dunk, before erasing Hall’s layup attempt to set up Kretzer’s corner trey.

“He dominated the game,” said Dambrot of his seven-foot senior center. “They couldn’t score over the top of him and offensively he scored.”

Kretzer added another triple to give Akron its first lead since leading 11-9 early in the game.

Cooper picked up his 900th career assist, finding Smith for a layup to stop the bleeding before tying the game with a driving layup. Cooper, who had four assists on the night, now ranks 13th in NCAA history with 901 dimes.

Akron took a six-point lead on an alley-oop dunk from Marshall and it appeared as if they might pull away; however, Cooper would not let his team go down without a fight.

As he has done throughout his illustrious career, Ohio’s star guard brought the packed house to its feet with back-to-back threes to even the score at 63.

Cooper was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc and with 257 career triples, needs just two more to set the record for most three-pointers made in Ohio history. He also is 16 points shy of becoming the first player in NCAA basketball history to collect at least 2,000 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals.

But Kretzer had the better night shooting the basketball; he hit his fourth triple of the half to put the Zips ahead 66-63 with 4:46 to play.

“I had a lot of family and friends from home here to watch the game,” said Kretzer, a Waverly, Ohio native who said he played about eight games in the Convo during his high school days. “I was used to the gym, used to the feel of it.”

After trading baskets, Ohio tied the game at 68 when Offutt connected from deep at the top of the key, setting up the final frantic minutes of regulation.

With three games remaining, Akron stands just one win away from winning the regular-season conference title. Ohio can secure the 2-seed in the MAC Tournament and a double bye into the tournament’s semifinals with a win or a Western Michigan loss.

The Zips and Bobcats will be heavily favored to faceoff in the MAC Championship game for the third time in five years. The teams have traded wins in the finals the past four seasons, with Ohio getting the best of Akron in 2010 and 2012.

“It’s going to be a new game,” said Treadwell of a possible third matchup with Ohio. “The two games in the past have nothing to do with the game we’re playing that day. We got to come ready to play. It’s been a war every time we’ve played them and we’ve got to strap up and be ready for it.”

Ohio has some work to do before then and will look to bounce back against Bowling Green (12-16, 6-7) at noon on Saturday at the Stroh Center. Ohio won the teams’ first matchup 72-63 behind Keely’s 15 points and 10 rebounds.

This article first appeared on speakeasyohiou.com, a student-run online publication at Ohio University.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.

Ivo Baltic glides up the floor and slams home a missed layup, sparking an affectionate “Ivo Baltic” chant from the O Zone, Ohio’s boisterous student section. Moments earlier, he had knocked down his patented jumper from the wing to ignite an 8-0 run, giving Ohio a 15-point lead over Kent State.

Unfortunately, the good feelings fade quickly as Baltic turns it over on Ohio’s next possession and immediately is sent to the bench.

This sequence from the Bobcats’ overtime win is one quite familiar to Ohio basketball followers. Fans, media members and coaches have been asking this question for nearly a season and a half: Why can’t Ivo Baltic find consistency?

“It’s real hard to figure out,” said Ohio coach Jim Christian before a practice last week. “Basketball is 90 percent mental; it’s a mental game. Some guys can handle the ups and downs better than others.”

These words are a far cry from what one would expect to hear about a player whose career is littered with both individual and team accomplishments.

While talking with current and former coaches who worked with Baltic, phrases like “tremendous athlete,” “offensively gifted,” “can score from all three levels” and “difficult to guard” are common in describing the senior forward’s game.

As the Bobcats have racked up wins and national recognition, the Bosnian native has struggled to find his niche on a team overflowing with talent.

To put Baltic’s inconsistent production into perspective, he averaged 15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds over the final 13 games of his sophomore season, shooting 56.2 percent from the field while converting 52 of 65 at the foul line (80 percent). He scored 16 or more seven times during the stretch, reaching double digits in all but two games.

He finished the season averaging 11.4 points and 6.1 rebounds, shooting 53.5 percent from the floor, good for second in the MAC. It looked like Baltic was ready to explode and dominate the conference for years to come with his rare combination of size, athleticism, vision and quickness.

Yet Baltic’s highly anticipated junior year began just as his sophomore season did—slow and inconsistent.

He averaged a tick over eight points in the first nine games before finding his rhythm in blowout wins over Wright State (15 points in 19 minutes) and Northern Iowa (season-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting), setting off a streak in which he scored in double figures for 10 straight games, ending with a 20-point performance on “Gary Trent Day” in a thrilling comeback win over rival Miami.

Baltic was playing like everyone knew he could, attacking the rim and scoring from inside and out.

However, after the Miami game, his performance sharply declined, falling into a rut that has plagued him ever since. He shockingly never scored more than 10 points for the rest of the season (18 games) even as the Bobcats made school history with a program-record 29 wins and trip to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1964.

It was midway through this rough patch that Baltic began a mystifying streak of 622 minutes, spanning 20 games (including the first 11 of this season), without attempting a free throw.

According to sports-reference.com, of the 1,245 players with at least 200 points this season, only three (all of whom are guards) have attempted less free throws than Baltic’s 13.

“Sophomore year when I was in the post a lot, I was way more physical, so I would get to the line more,” Baltic said. “When you spend so much more time out on the perimeter shooting jump shots, the chances of you getting fouled are slim.”

Baltic’s lack of free-throw attempts renders him inefficient offensively because he must take a high volume of shots in order to score his points. He also doesn’t shoot many threes (8-of-22), instead opting to take long two-pointers, many of which are just a foot inside the arc, a shot that most coaches agree is the worst in basketball.

Baltic’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER), a popular advanced statistic developed by John Hollinger which attempts to quantify player performance on a per-minute basis, was a very respectable 20.1 (15 is average) during his sophomore season, good for 10th in the MAC. But his PER sunk all the way to 12.9 last season (64th in the conference) and sits at just 14.6 this season.

“When you limit yourself to being a jump shooter, then you give yourself the opportunity to have some off nights because sometimes those shots aren’t going to fall,” said Aaron Fuss, who was promoted to assistant coach this season after spending three years as Director of Basketball Operations for the Bobcats.

Finally, after back-to-back scoreless games against Kent State and Akron, Baltic was replaced in the starting lineup by T.J. Hall, a move that sparked Ohio’s current five-game winning streak.

“I don’t really care who starts, but I think it’s important to reward guys when they’re playing well,” said Christian of the lineup switch.

The coaches have done everything in their power to try to get Baltic to play with confidence and aggression, but it has not registered yet.

At this point, he is an unsolvable puzzle, an enigma. On the surface, his numbers aren’t far off from his sophomore season. He’s scoring 8.1 points per game, leads the team with 5.3 rebounds, and is second in assists. But for a guy who received ringing endorsements on his ability from former assistant coach Dustin Ford, Christian and Fuss, the numbers are hollow, a reflection of his inability to find consistency.

No one is questioning Baltic’s physical talent.

“He’s a matchup problem,” said Ford, who coached Baltic during his first three seasons, before leaving for Illinois with former Ohio head coach John Groce. “He’s capable of posting, he’s capable of catching and shooting and he’s capable of driving. I don’t think there’s anything in his offensive package that he can’t do. There’s no doubt he’s capable of doing whatever he wants offensively, when he wants to do it.”

How can a guy with so much offensive talent struggle so mightily? What’s the issue? What is holding Baltic back from producing like he did at the end of his sophomore season and for stretches last year?

The soft-spoken Baltic admitted the inconsistency is mental.

“It’s been a mental block for me,” he said candidly. “It’s something that as players develop, some go through it faster, some go through it slower. Unfortunately, I’ve been in a slump and I haven’t been getting through it as well as I’ve been wanting to.”

Christian believes Baltic’s issues are beyond his control at this point.

“Not one coach in the country can give a player confidence. No coach in the country can take your confidence away,” said Christian.

Amid the high-flying dunks and sweet-stroking jump shot, Baltic said he’s played tentative at times, pressing to make plays. In the Bobcats’ home game against the Golden Flashes, Baltic twice drove baseline, jumped in the air under the basket and floated passes toward the perimeter without even looking at the rim. One of the passes was easily intercepted, prompting Christian to spread his arms out wide with a confused expression on his face.

“It’s not by design,” said Christian of Baltic’s tendency to kick the ball out on his drives.

“I was just telling Coach, I’ve been playing a little too fast for my liking,” said Baltic. “When I’m out there, sometimes I feel like stuff is moving a little faster than it has been lately, and it’s me being a little tentative. I need to start being more aggressive and start scoring more.”

The coaches have made a concerted effort to stress to Baltic that even when he isn’t scoring in the half court, he can score in other ways.

“He’s got to be opportunistic. That’s why we need him to run the floor…that’s when he gets layups and dunks,” added Christian.

Arguably the biggest difference in Baltic’s game as a sophomore to now is that he’s played mostly on the perimeter in the half-court offense, as opposed to sitting on the block. The change is a combination of things, most notably scheme and personnel.

Although Christian did not change much when he took the reins from Groce, he did implement a “four out, one in” system that calls for senior forward Reggie Keely to play inside with four shooters surrounding him.

“You can’t have two post players right near each other,” said Christian. “Reggie does a lot of that stuff for us. He’s usually down there.”

That has forced Baltic to float around on the perimeter, and although he has greatly improved his outside shooting and ball-handling, he is clearly more comfortable on the block.

“I’d rather post,” he said before pausing to add, “It is what it is.”

However, even when Baltic has had the opportunity to play with his back to the basket, he hasn’t impressed, looking like a shell of the player who once put up 31 against Northern Illinois. He attributed his struggles in the post to a lack of practice.

“I’ve gotten away from it. You can’t just go out in a game and do stuff right away. You have to work on it out here (at practice). That’s partially on me. That’s something I have to work on.”

It’s astounding that a weapon Baltic used so frequently with such great success in 2010-11 and for parts of last season has all but disappeared from his repertoire.

“At the end of last season, he kind of morphed into and was successful at making jump shots,” said Fuss. “He’s been a stretch the floor guy.”

But no matter whether he is stretching the floor or battling inside, his coach just wants the enigmatic Baltic to make the right decisions.

“There is a time to pass, there is a time to be an aggressive scorer, to offensive rebound, to run your lane,” Christian said.

Since being relegated to the bench, Baltic has finally found some consistency, scoring eight, eight, eight, six and eight points while grabbing 5.4 rebounds. And even though his role has changed and his production has dipped, Baltic remains an integral player for the Bobcats and still has the skills to take over a game.

With the "do-or-die" games of March looming, it’s often those big games that hinge on the performances of role players, which is what Baltic has become. Bobcat Nation hopes Baltic can regain his confidence and produce at a level one would expect of a player with his immense talent.

“We need him,” said Christian.

Otherwise, Ohio will have a difficult time making another deep run in March.

This article first appeared on speakeasyohiou.com, a student-run online publication at Ohio University.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Just over one year ago, Ohio lost consecutive road games in Toledo and Eastern Michigan, falling to 7-4 in the MAC. Bobcat Nation was restless and frustrated—they would not remain that way for long.

The Bobcats went on to win 10 of their next 11 games en route to becoming the darlings of March Madness and winning a program record 29 games.

While the 2012-2013 team struggled mightily on the road early in the season, they have been phenomenal on the road in conference play, save for the tough loss to Akron on Feb. 2.

After plane troubles caused the team to take the seven-hour bus ride up to Mt. Pleasant, it was one of those games that the Bobcats might have lost a few years ago. But this time, the veteran Bobcats, led by their senior class, rose to the occasion.

Ohio (18-6, 9-1) overcame a sloppy start to run away from Central Michigan (9-15, 2-9) in the second half, winning 82-63.

With the victory, the senior class of D.J. Cooper, Reggie Keely, Ivo Baltic, Walter Offutt and David McKinley earned win number 88 at Ohio, becoming the winningest class in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 87 set by the 1982-1986 class.

“If you want to build programs that sustain legacies, this is where it starts, with these guys,” said a proud Jim Christian when asked about his seniors.

The win helped the Bobcats keep pace with MAC-leading Akron (20-4, 11-0), who extended the nation's longest winning streak to 16 games after defeating Eastern Michigan 70-62.

Offutt led Ohio with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Keely added 14 points and six boards. Keely is now just two points away from eclipsing 1,000 for his career. 

The Bobcats used a 12-4 run early in the second half to take control and held a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Ohio led by as many as 21 to earn their tenth win in their last 11 games.

Ohio, which leads the MAC in shooting percentage at over 48 percent from the field, shot 51 percent (30-58) and made 10-21 from beyond the arc. The Bobcats held CMU to 40 percent shooting (22-55), including 4-21 from long range and forced 19 turnovers.  

But it wasn’t all rosy for the 'Cats. Ohio came out flat with six turnovers in the opening four minutes and looked to be out of sync offensively.

“We didn’t play focused in the first half. We were lethargic,” said Christian.

The Chippewas couldn’t capitalize on the Bobcats’ slow start, turning it over on three consecutive possessions leading to a layup by Offutt and dunk for Keely to put Ohio on the board.

Offutt knocked down three triples from the corners as the Bobcats shredded CMU’s 3-2 zone to take the lead. However, Ohio was never able to sustain any rhythm offensively in the first half, often playing too fast for its own good. But the Bobcats used the frenetic pace to their advantage, scoring 14 points on the fast break, thanks in large part to a stingy defense that forced nine first half turnovers.  

2 away from 1000 points in my career. Can't wait to get it in front of the best fans in the Mac #itsonlyright

— Reggie keely jr (@BiG_ReG30) February 14, 2013

But while they forced turnovers, Ohio was consistently one step behind Kyle Randall, who came into the game second in the MAC in scoring with 17.2 points. The transfer from UNC-Greensboro scored 15 of the Chippewas 31 first-half points and finished with a game-high 28 points.

Keely poured in 12 of his 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, including a buzzer-beating jumper to give Ohio a 35-31 halftime lead.

The Bobcats continued their hot shooting in the second half as three-pointers from Stevie Taylor, Cooper and Ricardo Johnson allowed the Bobcats to withstand three straight makes from CMU, before Ohio was finally able to pull away.

A three-point play from Johnson gave Ohio a 49-41 lead to start the Bobcats 12-4 run, and after Jon Smith slammed home Baltic's miss, Johnson swished his second trey from the right corner to put Ohio up by nine. Baltic knocked down a jumper from the top of the key and another Smith putback gave Ohio a 13-point lead with 12:15 remaining.

“I had to pick up the energy. That’s what I do best is bring energy and be able to produce when my number is called,” said Johnson, who came off the bench to fill the box score with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Ohio’s bench was terrific, outscoring the CMU bench 31-15.

“I thought we got really good contributions from everybody that came in. It’s one of those nights where energy’s not there and you need a bunch of different guys to supply it,” added Christian.

Later on, Cooper found the bottom of the net from NBA range to extend the lead to 68-49—Ohio cruised to yet another road victory.  Cooper scored eight points and added three assists, upping his career total to 877 helpings, tied for 18th all-time.

The seniors will try to add another win this Saturday when they return to the Convocation Center for an 11 a.m. matchup with Kent State (14-11, 5-6) on ESPNU. The Bobcats won the first meeting in classic fashion, 69-68, and are looking to sweep the Golden Flashes for the first time since the 2000-2001 season.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

It was a highly anticipated matchup between two undefeated MAC powerhouses, the first time in recent memory that two undefeated MAC teams met this late in the season.

And it lived up to the hype—sort of.

In their first meeting since last year’s classic MAC championship game, Akron (17-4, 8-0) exacted a bit of revenge with an 86-72 win over Ohio (15-6, 6-1) in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 5,770 at Rhodes Arena. 

Led by point guard Alex Abreu and a powerful frontcourt duo, Akron bullied its way to a 13th straight victory, the longest winning streak in the nation.

The diminutive Abreu scored 21 points and added nine assists and 7'0" center Zeke Marshall and forward Demetrius Treadwell each contributed double-doubles. Marshall had 17 points and 12 rebounds while Treadwell added 15 points and 10 rebounds. The two helped the Zips pound Ohio on the glass 40-22. 

The Bobcats knew containing Akron’s athletic and active big men on the boards would be their most difficult challenge, but they were unable to execute. 

“I give them credit. When Treadwell and Marshall want the ball, they go get it, and unless you stop them, they’re going to get it a lot,” said Ohio coach Jim Christian. “You got to want it. The key is hunger. We didn’t want it bad enough tonight. We didn’t invent block outs over here. They’re not much bigger than us. Treadwell is 6'7", but he wants the ball and he goes and gets every one of them.” 

It was a close, physical game throughout, but the Zips used a decisive 14-4 run to stretch a five-point lead to 15 with 4:29 remaining. 

Akron shot 56.1 percent from the field (32-57) and outscored Ohio 40-28 in the paint. 

“That’s what I call a team effort,” said Abreu, who was one of five Zips to score in double figures. “We kept moving the ball, nobody was trying to be a hero. We kept moving and moving until somebody was open. We executed our plays and we exploited mismatches. We prepared for this game and guys came up big.”

Nick Kellogg led Ohio with 15 points while D.J. Cooper chipped in 14 points and six assists. 

The Bobcats came out of the gate swinging, using a 14-0 run to take an early 19-8 lead. They hit nine of their first 11 shots and scored nine points off of four Akron turnovers. 

Ohio took its biggest lead on a Ricardo Johnson corner three for a 23-10 lead midway through the first half. 

“We got off to a great start, shot the ball particularly well and were getting stops, and that led us to get out on our break,” said Christian. 

But that’s when the Zips caught fire, scoring on eight straight possessions including a ferocious put-back dunk from Marshall to cut the Ohio lead to seven. 

Three straight made jumpers cut the deficit to 29-26 before Abreu got hot. He scored eight points during a 12-3 Akron run to give the Zips a 38-35 lead. 

“I thought Abreu was the difference in the game,” Christian said. “He controlled the tempo of the game. We wanted to keep him out of the lane, and we didn’t do that very well.” 

Akron completed the 18-point first half turnaround when freshman Reggie McAdams sank a three-pointer from the wing with 30 seconds left to take a 41-36 halftime lead.

Akron scored on a ridiculous 14 of their final 17 first-half possessions and shot 18-29 (62.1 percent) in the opening 20 minutes. 

“The last seven or eight minutes of the first half we didn’t get any stops,” said Christian bluntly.

Abreu and Marshall did not miss a shot, combining to hit on all nine field goal attempts for 20 points. 

The second half was much more even-keeled with neither team scoring more than five points in a row until Akron took control with its final run. 

Back-to-back threes from McAdams gave Akron its biggest lead at 59-50. McAdams scored in double figures for just the fourth time all season, hitting on three of his four three-point attempts. 

Two free throws each from Reggie Keely and Cooper brought Ohio to within five, but Pat Forsythe converted a three-point play to ignite Akron’s 14-4 run. Marshall scored on a layup off a dish from Abreu, and Treadwell hammered home a dunk and hit a foul-line jumper to give the Zips nine straight points. Abreu answered a Cooper three with one of his own and made two free throws to give the Zips their largest lead of the night at 73-58. 

During the run, the Bobcats seemed to rush their offense, taking contested shots early in the shot clock in an effort to combat the Zips’ scorching shooting. 

But Ohio would not go away, continuing to attack the Zips’ interior defense to get to the line time and time again. Ohio was 21-of-29 from the charity stripe.

T.J. Hall, who scored a season-high 12 points off the bench, hit back-to-back threes to bring Ohio to within eight with 2:18 remaining, but the Zips made their free throws down the stretch to close the game. 

Ohio shot just 32.3 percent (10-31) in the second half and 40.7 percent overall.  

Cooper, Ohio’s leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, was just 3-of-10 from the field and 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. Akron employed a strategy it used in last year’s MAC Championship game, using 6'7" forwards Nick Harney and Treadwell to guard Cooper for a majority of the second half. 

“We switched gears at halftime,” said Akron coach Keith Dambrot. “Abreu guarded him in the first half and we gave ball-screen help and they caught us in between rotations. The second half we switched the ball screens so we put the bigger guy on Cooper. It was a calculated risk.” 

Although frustrated, Christian said he wouldn’t overreact to the disappointing loss. 

“I don’t put too much stock in any one game. This is a long race, we’re seven games in (out of 16 conference games).” 

Added Kellogg, “We just got to clean things up and get onto the next one.” 

The two teams will meet again at the Convocation Center in Athens on February 27. 

As for the immediate future, the Bobcats will look to climb back on track when they visit Ball State (8-12, 2-6) on Wednesday night for their fourth straight road game. 

Notes: Cooper passed Grayson Marshall (Clemson, 1984-88) for 19th on the all-time Division I assists list and now has 861…Ohio’s Ivo Baltic was held scoreless for the second consecutive game. The senior forward, who came into the game averaging 8.7 points, attempted just one shot in 22 minutes.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Ohio basketball over the past few years, it’s that the Bobcats are extremely difficult to beat at the Convocation Center.

Ohio picked up another win at home Wednesday night, trouncing Northern Illinois 81-63 to improve to 3-0 in MAC play for the first time since the 2005-2006 season. Ohio has now won 33 of its past 35 games at home, including a 10-1 mark this season.

Walter Offutt scored a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from downtown. Reggie Keely chipped in 12 points and D.J. Cooper, who was named MAC East Division Player of the Week for the third time in four weeks on Monday, filled the box score with nine points, eight assists and four steals.

After a sloppy opening eight-plus minutes in which Ohio committed seven turnovers and NIU five, the Huskies held a surprising 12-9 lead.

But Ohio found its mojo and quickly turned the three-point deficit into a laugher.

With help from their deep bench, the Bobcats went on a 20-0 run in just 5:50 to take a 29-12. Sparked by two free throws from Ricardo Johnson, who also provided stingy on-the-ball defense and great energy, Ohio tore apart the NIU defense while holding them without a field goal for more eight minutes.

Stevie Taylor swished two threes during the run, and Ohio made six straight trifectas as the run extended to 28-2.

The exclamation point was a beautiful alley-oop pass from Cooper to Ivo Baltic, which brought the raucous crowd of 7,648 to its feet.

"I thought the players got energy from the crowd," said Ohio coach Jim Christian. "We had an unbelievable student section. They were loud and into the game. In the first half, they provided an unbelievable spark for our team and we had some great runs.

After the game, Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery said, “(Ohio is) the best spurt team in the conference…I’m glad we only face them once in the regular season.”

The Bobcats outscored NIU 33-6 over the final 11:25 of the half to take a commanding 45-18 lead into halftime. Ohio shot 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from long range and 17-of-25  (68 percent) from the field in the first half.

Led by Taylor's eight points, Ohio’s bench outscored NIU 21-18 in the half.

“The bench with our energy got us going a little bit,” Johnson said. “We play on the same team a lot in practice, so when you come off the bench that chemistry kind of helps.”

Ohio continued the onslaught in the second half, extending the lead above 30 numerous times before Christian went to his deep reserves to close out the win.

The Bobcats racked up 25 assists, improving their nation-leading average to 19.6 per game. A perfect example of Ohio’s unselfish play occurred midway through the second half with Ohio leading by 30. Reggie Keely corralled an ill-advised pass and found Johnson, who raced up the court and kicked to Taylor on the wing who made the ‘extra pass’ to Offutt for a wide-open corner three-pointer.

Cooper, who came into the game second in the nation with 8.3 assists per game, added eight more to move into 23rd place on the all-time NCAA Division I assists list.

Ohio’s smothering defense forced 20 turnovers, leading to 28 points. The Huskies shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the floor and had just five assists NIU’s leading scorer Abdel Nader (13.6 pts) finished 7-of-21 from the field for 16 points with four turnovers. His air ball three-pointer late in the second half perfectly summed up the Huskies' night.

Ohio looks to move to 4-0 in conference play when it welcomes Toledo (6-8, 2-1) to town Saturday for a 6 pm tip-off. The Rockets are coming off a 79-56 shellacking at the hands of Western Michigan, but were the consensus favorite to win the MAC West. They are led by junior guard Rian Pearson’s 19.3 points per game.

Marlowe Alter is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.