10 Jan
1-10 Blog Notes
- Kent State’s 62-60 win yesterday marks the first time Geno Ford has won at game as an opponent inside The Convocation Center (1-5).
- It took D.J. Cooper 19 shots to get to his 21 points.
- Chris Singletary was just unstoppable Saturday. Good idea of putting DeVaughn Washington on him late in the game, but Washington’s size advantage was worthless in a one-on-one match-up given Singletary’s speed and strength. Like Jerome Tillman, Singletary is a nightmare to mismatch.
- I feel much more confident in my pre-season pick for Kent State to win the MAC East now.
- You could really tell Kent State’s early road games at the likes of South Florida, Xavier and Pittsburgh are paying off, something Coach Ford touched on after the game. KSU was not deterred by the crowd.
- Ohio has been too three-point reliant all season long, and that showed no more than yesterday’s first half when 14 of the ‘Cats 30 shots were three pointers.
- John Groce is right—you have to be impressed with the way Ohio fought with a really physical team in KSU. For the first time this year Ohio lost despite out rebounding an opponent (7-1).
- Loved the atmosphere at The Convo Saturday. The marketing/game operations department did a great job pumping up the game, and the in-game replays on the baseline video screens were a nice new addition as well.
- Miami’s Kenny Hayes went 1-10 from the floor in a blowout loss at Buffalo yesterday. Speaking of the Bulls, I don’t think anyone knows if UB is good or bad right now.
- Akron’s Zeke Marshall has just two double-digit games thus far.
- Freshman Colt Ryan, once recruited by Ohio under Tim O’Shea, is averaging a team best 14.4 ppg for the lowly Evansville Purple Aces.
- The Ohio men took on Kent State at 2 p.m. while the Ohio women battled Bowling Green right after yesterday. On the surface, it seems having the women’s game lead in to a more crowded men’s contest would make more sense. But that’s not the case, says Ohio A.D. Jim Schaus. “Marketing feels that 2 is the best start for attendance for men’s hoops. This was a weekend to focus on that for a big MAC game. We have done and will continue to have some weekends when the women are first and then the men’s for a tight doubleheader.”
- OK, makes sense to me. The men’s game is the bigger revenue producer, so the start time needs to be ideal for that game. No worries either way. The bottom line is if the product between the lines is good, people will show up.
- As I tweeted a few days ago, Ohio middle blocker Jane Sytsma will not be granted a redshirt after injuring her knee 12 matches in to the season. She played in 41% of the schedule, and the rule is no more than 30%.
- Ryan Theis and company will host a two-day tournament inside The Convo next fall that will include Tennessee, Pittsburgh and Northwestern.
- You can follow me on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/CalebTroop