BG men try to straighten out defense (02-22-11)

With only four conference games remaining, Bowling Green’s men’s basketball team must straighten out its
defense in an effort to secure a home game for the first round of the Mid-American Conference
tournament.
At the beginning of February, the Falcons were in a position to possibly have a bye into the
quarterfinals.
Now after losing three of the last four conference games, the scramble is on to avoid a road game for the
first round.
The Falcons are 12-15 overall and 7-5 in the MAC, tied for third place with Akron and Buffalo. Of BG’s
remaining four games, three are against teams ahead of or tied with the Falcons.
First up is Wednesday’s game at Ohio.
Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m. and it will be televised on SportsTime Ohio.
SCOUTING OHIO: Ohio is 14-13 overall and 6-6 in the MAC East.
The Bobcats are coming off a 77-74 overtime win over Winthrop in the BracketBuster. Ohio was the only MAC
team to win on the road in the BracketBuster.
Tommy Freeman, a 6-foot-5 senior, had seven threes in the win over Winthrop and is tied with Dave
Jamerson for the Ohio career record with 239 3-pointers.
Freeman has 978 career points. He is averaging 11.2 ppg this season.
Ohio’s D.J. Cooper, a 5-11 sophomore, is one of the top point guards in the MAC. He is averaging 16.7
points, 7.4 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game. He has 199 assists and only 92 turnovers.
DeVaughn Washington, a 6-8 senior, and Ivo Baltic, a 6-8 sophomore, are also averaging in double figures
at 12.6 and 10.6 points per game, respectively.
Washington had 25 points and eight rebounds in the win over Winthrop.
BG beat Ohio 73-61 in the first meeting this season, with Scott Thomas scoring 19 points and Torian
Oglesby contributing 13 points and 10 rebounds.
NEXT: BG plays at Miami Saturday at 11 a.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
BG beat the RedHawks, 62-53, in the first meeting this season with four players in double figures,
including sophomore Jordon Crawford who had 10 points, eight assists and five steals.