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Topic: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Topic: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

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Ted Thompson
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Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 12:09:22 AM

Use this thread to talk about anything game-related.

Date: March 11th, 2019 9:00 PM

Opponent: Northern Illinois (15-16, 8-10 MAC)

Site: NIU Convocation Center

TV: None

Radio: Ohio Radio or TuneIn Radio

Webcast: ESPN+

NIU statistics, roster and media guide.

NIU Fan Site: The Dog Pound

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Ted Thompson
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 12:18:43 AM

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Ted Thompson
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 12:19:30 AM

Mid-American Conference. First round games at higher seed, remaining games at Cleveland. #log5 pic.twitter.com/6C78OoGT7d
— Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) March 9, 2019

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MonroeClassmate
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 12:23:12 PM

Toledo would definitely be a huge hurdle should the Bobcats take game one of 3 from the Huskies this season. OHIO is on the good side of the bracket.

Who knows, all you Groce fans know that in year two at the helm of his MAC team he will make a BIG splash. This time upsetting the Bulls. That would provide the luck the right bracket needs to advance to the NCAA. This would be BGSU's best chance to finally get a MAC tournament championship in Cleveland.

Old Zone
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 8:08:03 PM

The right-hand side of the bracket is where you want to be.

Buck.Cat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/9/2019 8:30:37 PM

Old Zone wrote:

The right-hand side of the bracket is where you want to be.

We were 0-2 vs NIU, 0-1 vs Toledo, 0-1 vs Eastern, 1-1 vs BG, and 2-0 vs Ball State. At this point, does it really make a difference which bracket side we are on?

MonroeClassmate
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 8:01:22 AM

Buck.Cat wrote:

Old Zone wrote:

The right-hand side of the bracket is where you want to be.

We were 0-2 vs NIU, 0-1 vs Toledo, 0-1 vs Eastern, 1-1 vs BG, and 2-0 vs Ball State. At this point, does it really make a difference which bracket side we are on?

If you were in battle and the choice was victory or defeat--past results mean little. You learn from the past but must play with the circumstances as they may then be. If you were planning the way forward you would be pleased at being in the right side bracket and convey the enthusiasm to your troops. Would you rather be Akron and Miami? The right side is the best of circumstances. Everyone knows you have to face one of the top four if you make it past the first one but this is the best spot(other than flipping with Ball State and facing EMU). In the semi's would you rather face BGSU where you are 1-1 or Buffs/Kent where you are 0-4? There has to be an upset for any of the non four to make it to the semi's--why not OHIO through Toledo?

At home against NIU, a miserable free throw shooting exhibit cost the Cats of winning the MAC opener and getting off to a good start. Certainly NIU could have had their two worst games of the season against the lowly Cats but as a planner you would have to say OHIO let two slip away and this is a very good draw for OHIO because the way we are playing now vs the way we were playing earlier should make you think we can take this team and move on to the Rockets.

From past viewing of years of MAC first games in Cleveland, it seems a number of teams struggle to score early. Perhaps it takes a while in a huge arena like the Q to really get a bearing. That plays into OHIO's strength because OHIO has often been off to a very slow shooting start this season. In these circumstances the game score against Toledo might be tight going into the second half. I think it was Larry Hunter who claimed that if a team is tied at the half and the game is shrunk to just 20 minutes that ANY team can beat any team over 20 minutes!

Go OHIO;
Beat NIU!

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 12:19:35 PM

To beat a team 3 times in a season is very difficult. To get that chance at home makes that a lot easier. Although we are playing better coming down the stretch, our dynamics do us no favors in this game.

NIU 74
OU 66

Pataskala
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 2:53:32 PM

This is a much different team than the one that lost twice to NIU. Except for the WMU and BSU games, the most points Ohio scored in the first 11 games was 66, against NIU in an OT loss in the first MAC game of the season. In the last seven games, the FEWEST points Ohio has scored is 66. What happened earlier this season doesn't mean much now. Ohio can win this one.

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

GraffZ06
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 4:51:37 PM

This is a winnable game for sure.

That being said - I don't see a W on the road.

Raw #s say NIU wins 71-69.

Given 3.5 pts for home court I say

Northern Illinois: 73
Ohio: 67

FearLeon
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 4:58:39 PM

GraffZ06 wrote:

This is a winnable game for sure.

That being said - I don't see a W on the road.

Raw #s say NIU wins 71-69.

Given 3.5 pts for home court I say

Northern Illinois: 73
Ohio: 67

I agree...very winnable game. Of all the possibilities in round one, I'd rather play at NIU than Akron or EMU.

#BleedGreen #TrentIsGOAT

GraffZ06
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 5:25:08 PM

FearLeon wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

This is a winnable game for sure.

That being said - I don't see a W on the road.

Raw #s say NIU wins 71-69.

Given 3.5 pts for home court I say

Northern Illinois: 73
Ohio: 67

I agree...very winnable game. Of all the possibilities in round one, I'd rather play at NIU than Akron or EMU.

Yeah much better first round draw than Central, Eastern or Akron as far as roadies go this round.

That being said, I still think we lose. Just not enough talent, shooting or experience on this years squad.

But, if we do pull this out. We're going to get s-m-o-k-e-d by Toledo.

I think that 6/11 line between Balls and EMU is the best place to be since they get a struggling BG team in the quarters. Eastern and their funky zone defense could compound teams struggles shooting in the Q - and just might end up in the MAC semis.

Regardless, this tourney runs through Buffalo followed by Toledo then "everybody else".

BobcatSports
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 6:40:16 PM

We open as 4pt underdogs.

The Optimist
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/10/2019 10:58:00 PM

I�m content with being the 10 seed in this bracket instead of the 9 seed, even if that did work once

I've seen crazier things happen.

SBH
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 6:39:30 AM

At least we don't have to play two games in one day as did one of Billy Hahn's squads.

UpSan Bobcat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 10:21:23 AM

Northern Illinois has won three of its last four after losing six straight.

100%Cat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 10:28:23 AM

FearLeon wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

This is a winnable game for sure.

That being said - I don't see a W on the road.

Raw #s say NIU wins 71-69.

Given 3.5 pts for home court I say

Northern Illinois: 73
Ohio: 67

I agree...very winnable game. Of all the possibilities in round one, I'd rather play at NIU than Akron or EMU.

I'm with you guys. Winnable game, for sure...but I'm not overly optimistic we come home and pack for Cleveland. We ended the season last year on a good roll and then went down to Oxford Tech and lost.

GoCats105
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 11:31:06 AM

I don't like having to travel all the way over there, but the team is playing much better than the first two times, especially when it comes to turnovers and free throw shooting. If BVP and Murrell can knock down some shots off the bench, I say Ohio eeks out a win, 73-70.

Deciduous Forest Cat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 11:33:14 AM

100%Cat wrote:

FearLeon wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

This is a winnable game for sure.

That being said - I don't see a W on the road.

Raw #s say NIU wins 71-69.

Given 3.5 pts for home court I say

Northern Illinois: 73
Ohio: 67

I agree...very winnable game. Of all the possibilities in round one, I'd rather play at NIU than Akron or EMU.

That was a terrible draw last year, having to beat Miami twice in four days both on the road, and Jordy had been playing well down the stretch but was hurting bad and had to leave the tournament game.

Hooligan
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 1:16:45 PM

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

http://coachbobwalsh.com/2018/03/02/its-hard-to-beat-a-te... /

The 2-0 team wins the third game 72% of the time over the last 10 years.

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 3:38:41 PM

Hooligan wrote:

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

http://coachbobwalsh.com/2018/03/02/its-hard-to-beat-a-te... /

The 2-0 team wins the third game 72% of the time over the last 10 years.

I hate Google. Google ruins incoherent speech.....

Fascinating read though. Never thought the stat was that absurd.....

Last Edited: 3/11/2019 3:39:05 PM by Buckeye to Bobcat

Maddog13
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 3:39:40 PM

I would love to see the Bobcats continue to play competitive, rise above their individual level of talent as a cohesive team, and pull out an unexpected win on the road. I fear though that they won't be able to match the talent and tournament fueled energy of Northern Illinois on their own home court. I suspect that the Saul era will end appropriately with flat and uninspired play, poor outside shooting (not to mention performing piss-poorly at the foul line), and making infuriating turnovers at the absolute worst of times. As a result, the Huskies will, ultimately, pull away from the Bobcats in the second half in order to gain the not so worthy honor of being taken behind the woodshed by Toledo. I sure hope that I am wrong, and that I am guilty of being far more of a cynic than a realist, but being a Bobcat fan (especially during the Saul era) has not always been a very easy thing to be excited about.

Ted Thompson
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 4:06:12 PM

KenPom predicts a 72-66 loss so a 29% chance of winning. The NIU offense is ranked 104th in efficiency at 107.9 opponent-adjusted points per 100 possessions. They shoot the three better than average (35.7% ranking 101st) and free throws pretty well (73.5% ranking 86th). They turn the ball over on only 17.3% of possessions (93rd). Ohio's offense still ranks poorly (ranking 273rd at 98.9 points per 100 possessions). The Bobcats problems this year have been turnovers (ranking 285th by turning the ball over on 20.1% of possessions), 3-point shooting (ranking 338th at 30.3%) and free throw shooting (ranking 344th at 63.0%). But over the last 5 games, Ohio has shot 34% from three, 71.8% from the line and turned the ball over on 16.9% of possessions. Over that span, Preston has 27 assists and 6 turnovers and TK has shown improvement to 15 assists and 11 turnovers.

Defensively, NIU ranks 190th allowing 105.0 per 100. The Bobcats have been in the Top 100 pretty much all season in defense allowing 99.9/100 (ranks 98th).

For NIU, Levi Bradley has been playing very well. The Huskies have won 3 of 4 and Bradley was the KenPom MVP in all 3 wins.

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Ted Thompson
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 5:08:51 PM

🏀🏀 It's MAC Tournament time! The Bobcats face off with the Huskies for the third time this season and @OhioBobcatTV, @RussEisenstein and @robcwv have your preview right here! #BleedGreen 🏀🏀 pic.twitter.com/nVKR8jSSEY
— OhioMen'sBasketball (@OhioMBasketball) March 11, 2019

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Ted Thompson
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RE: Official MAC Tourney First Round Thread: NIU

Posted: 3/11/2019 5:09:47 PM

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