There comes a point where earning an “A” for effort in a close loss does as little for a team’s morale as it does for its place in the standings. In the Mid-American Conference, a couple teams have seen strong performances result in losses after just a few weeks of conference basketball.
Perhaps more than any other MAC team, the Miami RedHawks have experienced their share of heartbreakers. Despite consistently playing well and hanging with their opponents, Miami has had trouble walking off the court with tangible results. Through seven conference games, the RedHawks have only one victory.
“This is a year you don’t want to be down in the league because there’s too many good teams,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “It used to be you could get some victories. Now you’ve got to play good every game.”
With Saturday’s loss to Western Michigan, the RedHawks extended their losing streak to four games. Despite falling into a rut, Miami has maintained a fairly high level of play. The RedHawks have not lost by more than nine points since Dec. 22, and that was against Ohio State.
“If you look at our scores in the league, we’ve been very, very close on every occasion,” Coles said. “All except one game has come down to the last possession.”
Another team in the MAC East struggling to pull through in close games is Bowling Green. The Falcons, 3-4 in conference play, have lost their four MAC games by a combined 13 points.
In the MAC West, the bottom of the standings is much more straightforward. Northern Illinois has been outmatched, and as a result, the squad sits in sixth place.
Although the Huskies and the RedHawks share the same record, a colossal difference lies between the teams in terms of closeness of their contests.
Northern Illinois, which will host Ohio on Wednesday, has had trouble staying within striking distance of its opponents. The Huskies hold a conference worst scoring margin of minus-13.9 points. Coming off last weekend’s 74-59 loss to the Buffalo Bulls, Northern Illinois is in dire need of a spark.
For the Huskies, gaining that surge of momentum will be a tough thing to attain. The team is left with only two seniors on its roster after leading scorer Tim Toler was dismissed from the team last week. Northern Illinois has seven freshmen on its roster.
Having faced adversity through the first part of the season, the struggling team has tried to learn from the past and keep looking forward.
“I’m taking a very positive approach,” Huskies’ coach Mark Montgomery said. “When you have a freshman backcourt, there’s going to be some growing pains. But those freshmen will be sophomores and juniors in a few years and they’re getting a lot of experience.”
mm938910@ohiou.edu
