All roads in the Mid-American Conference might lead to Cleveland, but the only road to the NCAA Tournament goes by way of a MAC Tournament championship.
Despite owning the best overall record in the conference, Ohio (24-7) enters the MAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed and will likely need to win the tournament in order to earn its third trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past eight years.
Because of the conference’s new tournament format, the Bobcats have a two-round bye into the quarterfinals, where they will face seventh-seeded Toledo (18-15) Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The Rockets advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Miami and Central Michigan.
A win against Toledo would send Ohio to the semifinals to face MAC Player of the Year Mitchell Watt and second-seeded Buffalo, a team the Bobcats defeated twice during the regular season.
The winners of five of their last six games, the Bobcats have endured a five-day break since defeating Miami in the final regular-season game of the year.
Ohio coach John Groce said the team is focused on keeping its edge during the time off.
“It’s a delicate balance between staying sharp and getting rest,” Groce said. “It’s not an exact science. Our biggest challenge this week is to remain sharp and healthy and make sure that our minds are right and that we’re ready to go.”
The Bobcats were coming off six consecutive wins before facing Toledo Feb. 8 on the road. They led 15-0 before eventually falling to the Rockets 77-73.
The loss tied for the most points Ohio has allowed to a conference opponent all season.
Making his third trip to the conference tournament, Ohio point guard D.J. Cooper said the team would pay more attention to perfecting itself than to its opponent.
“We’ve played everybody at least once. It’s just about us,” Cooper said. “As long as we come out and do what we do, we shouldn’t have to worry about anybody else.”
Groce said the Bobcats would not even worry about their opponent until at least Wednesday.
“Everybody knows our guys and we know their guys,” Groce said. “It’s not like there (are) any surprises. Players make plays this time of year.”
On the opposite side of the bracket from Ohio, top-seeded Akron awaits the winner of No. 4 Kent State’s game against No. 8 Western Michigan.
If all goes in Ohio’s favor, five days off will gave way to three games in three days as the tournament progresses.
Sophomore forward Jon Smith and redshirt junior guard Walter Offutt will experience the MAC Tournament for the first time after transferring to Athens. Though the Bobcats return only three starters from last year’s unit, Smith said the rest of the team’s experience and maturity would be beneficial.
“We have an older group that (has) been through tournaments,” Smith said. “I’m excited. As a team I feel like we’re ready for that, we’re prepared for that and we’re ready for a quick turnaround.”
One newcomer for Ohio who will not make his tournament debut is freshman forward TyQuane Goard, who did not make the trip because of “academic reasons,” Director of Media Relations Drew Wiseman said.
Ohio has not played games in back-to-back days since winning three straight games in the MAC Tournament in 2010.
As the only remaining starter from that team, Cooper said winning on consecutive nights is achievable.
“You’ve just got to bring it every game,” he said. “We’re all 18 to 22 (years old). We’ve got fresh-enough legs to get this done.”
UP NEXT:
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
THURSDAY
No. 3 Ohio v. No. 7 Toledo
Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
9:30 p.m.
WATCH: SportsTime Ohio University
RADIO: 105.5 FM WXTQ
ro137807@ohiou.edu
