WKU Basketball: Tops Humbled In First Road Game, Lose To Ohio 89–84

After having eight days off for finals, WKU hit the road to Athens, Ohio for their first true road game of the season. Unfortunately, the Tops showed they still have little margin for error and a long way to go in a 89–84 loss to the 5–4 Bobcats.

WKU took an early 6–3 lead, but it was all Ohio the rest of the half. A Lamonte Bearden technical foul early in the half completely changed the course of the game as the Bobcats immediately went on a 9–0 run. Bearden would pick up a third foul later in the half and the Bobcats would go up by as much as 17 points before they went to the locker room leading 42–30.

WKU began the second half on a 6–0 run but Ohio quickly re-took control of the game extending the lead to 16 points. After that, WKU struggled to get back into the game until it was too late. After being down 11 with 2:39 left they pressed their way to just a three-point deficit with 11 seconds left but missed free throws by Darius Thompson ended the comeback attempt as the Tops leave Athens with a humbling road loss.

Here are some other post loss thoughts:

• Lamonte Bearden might be WKU’s most important player. Without him on the floor for most of the game the defense lost it’s aggressiveness and offense lacked flow. He’ll have to be more composed and limit his mistakes if WKU wants to be successful on the road
• Everything that could go wrong did in the first half. Foul trouble, missed free throws and poor shot selection helped WKU dig an insurmountable hole similar to the Missouri State game
• WKU shot 15-of-24 from the free throw line as opposed to 31–35 from the Bobcats, that may be the most glaring difference in the game.
• Taveion Hollingsworth didn’t let his first road game phase him at all, leading WKU in scoring (19) and assists (five). Jake Ohmer, however, did look like a freshman, shooting just 5-of-13, including 1-of-6 from three. He also fouled out and was inconsistent in Bearden’s absence.
• This loss showed that WKU isn’t completely back yet. With the eight man roster, they’re still going to be a victim to poor performances and foul trouble especially when key members like Bearden (or Coleby against Missouri State) can’t stay on the floor.
• Winning on the road is hard regardless of who you’re playing and we should all hope this is a valuable lesson as the Tops grow and hopefully get Anderson and Diange back soon.

WKU is now 6–3. They’ll travel to Madison, Wisconsin next to take on the reeling Badgers for another potential statement game. Here are your final stats from today’s humbling showing