During the course of a basketball season, every team is hit with adversity, and what separates the best teams from the pack is how they respond.
With just two weekends of Mid-American Conference play remaining before the postseason tournament, Ohio faces the task of playing rival Akron on Saturday.
Regular Ohio starters Stevie Taylor, Maurice Ndour and T.J. Hall are hampered by injuries, which will not make the home stretch any easier for the Bobcats.
Ohio played uncharacteristically lethargic basketball against Western Michigan on Wednesday, losing by ten points. The Bobcats struggled to limit the Broncos’ scoring opportunities, which were aided by Ohio’s lack of rebounding and 17 turnovers.
“We’ve got to regroup and get better and understand what we need to do to win,” said Ohio coach Jim Christian. “We know we’ve just got to get the right mindset back. For whatever reason, we didn’t have it (against Western Michigan).”
Getting back on track, however, won’t be an easy task for the Bobcats. They have dropped their past four contests against the Zips, who are 3-3 in February and are fresh off a six-point loss to Buffalo on Wednesday.
Ohio senior guard Nick Kellogg said Ohio must deal well with its injuries to be successful for the remainder of the season.
“It’s definitely tough with having guys out,” Kellogg said. “But at the same time we have to go with the flow, play the cards you’re dealt with. We’ve got a couple guys banged up, but they can’t stop the guys that can play from contributing and stepping up.”
The teams’ last meeting, Jan. 12, went to double overtime, and Akron escaped with a three-point win.
Akron senior forward Demetrius Treadwell leads the Zips with 15 points and almost nine boards per contest, and Akron averages 12.5 offensive rebounds per game — two more than Ohio’s average of 10.2.
Kellogg said a victory against the Zips could be a big motivational boost for the Bobcats with just four games remaining in their regular season.
“We know how big of a game it is Saturday,” Kellogg said. “They’ve had our number for quite a while, so it’s going to be tough going on the road and trying to get it done. But it will feel really good to get this one and kind of build something, get some momentum heading into these last couple games and the tournament.”
Although an Ohio victory would help the Bobcats’ standing for the MAC Tournament, Christian is more concerned about the squad playing better as a unit.
“I want us to feel good about Ohio,” Christian said. “No one in here feels good about Ohio today. In February you’ve got to be excited to finish up, you’ve got to be pursuing something — so really standings, none of that stuff means anything.”
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