Brock Fowler / For The Post / bf278107@ohio.edu

Freshman forward DeVaughn Washington goes up for a basket against Central Michigan in yesterday’s game at The Convo. In spite of the teams combining for an average of one personal foul per minute, the Bobcats won 62-47.

Tim O’Shea couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was definitely something “weird” about Ohio’s 62-47 win over Central Michigan last night.

With the teams committing a total of 40 personal fouls and 45 turnovers, the Bobcats’ fourth straight win and eighth consecutive victory at home in The Convo didn’t have much flow, but don’t misunderstand O’Shea — he’ll gladly take the ugly win.

“Fifteen points is a little deceptive because that’s about as high as it got, and it didn’t get there until the very end,” O’Shea said, adding that the win was far from Ohio’s best offensive showing.

In “the first half especially, we didn’t shoot a very good percentage,” he said. “And we took some shots that probably shouldn’t have been taken, but that said, I thought the defensive effort was again very, very good.”

For the second time this season, the Bobcats (14-6, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) held an opponent under 50 points, and once again it was Ohio’s defensive effort that proved crucial in snagging the win.

The Bobcats limited the Chippewas (8-11, 3-4 MAC) to a paltry ten points through the first 17 minutes of the second half, allowing them to jump out in front and ensure they wouldn’t be the second MAC East team upset by Central Michigan in a week. Ohio had eight of their 11 steals in the second half.

“We just kept them off balance with our changing defenses. They didn’t know what to run, so it was easier for us to get the steals,” forward Leon Williams said. Williams had two of those steals in the second half in addition to his 22 points and 12 rebounds.

But leading the Bobcats with four steals was guard Bubba Walther, who appeared to return to form late in the game when he scored all eight of his points.

“I’ve really focused on not taking any bad shots. That got me in to trouble a few games before I got hurt,” said Walther, who thought the changing Ohio defense simply wore down Central Michigan as the game continued.

Ohio’s defensive stand came after a first half that had eight offensive fouls called within the first ten minutes as the two teams were mired in a low-scoring contest. And despite the Bobcats’ efforts to distance themselves from Central Michigan, they couldn’t shake the Chippewas, who hit four 3-pointers to tie the game 28-28 at the break.

The Bobcats were just 9-of-24 from the field in the first half. O’Shea said he would have liked to see better ball movement and better shot selection, but with the strangeness of the game overall, he’ll still take the win.

Central Michigan’s “second in the country in fouls committed,” O’Shea added. “They play a very rough, aggressive game, and that can kind of kill the flow — all those fouls. I’m glad they’re in the West (division) and we only have to play them once.”