If it wasn’t obvious already, Ohio coach Bob Boldon originally made it clear he wanted the Bobcats to open the Mid-American Conference Tournament at home on Monday.
However, his team’s struggles throughout the season have led to a different result.
After losing 68-63 to Miami on Saturday and dropping 13 of its past 14 outings, Ohio has secured the No. 11 seed in the MAC Tournament and an additional trip to Toledo.
“I was hoping we’d play in Athens,” Boldon said. “I don’t like Toledo any more than I like Kalamazoo. In Kalamazoo, the hotel has a ping-pong table in it and I like to play ping-pong, so I was kind of pulling for Kalamazoo.”
If the Bobcats had won in Oxford, they would’ve snatched the No. 10 seed in the conference tournament, which would’ve resulted in a matchup with Western Michigan. Instead, the Bobcats will visit Toledo again after losing to the Rockets 62-58 on Feb. 15.
Despite injuries plaguing Ohio, the Bobcats consistently continue to find ways to hang in games but often fall behind late in them.
“It’s the same thing over and over,” Boldon said. “We’re just not a good basketball team. We weren’t a very good team at the beginning of the year and we aren’t right now. We compete, it’s close for a little bit and then we lose.”
On top of recent struggles, it doesn’t help that Ohio has endured injuries throughout the season.
The first was to junior guard Mariah Byard, who sat out a month after breaking her hand. Then, on Feb. 27, sophomore guard Kiyanna Black landed on her left shoulder awkwardly in a fight for a loose ball.
And just when the Bobcats thought it couldn’t get worse, freshman forward Hannah Boesinger and guard Yamonie Jenkins picked up injuries against the RedHawks.
“Sometimes people think I’m being over-critical, but we’re just not that good of a team,” Boldon said. “If you look at us statistically, we don’t guard well, teams shoot a ridiculous statistic against us and offensively we don’t make very many shots per game. We usually take more shots than our opponent, but we rarely make more than our opponent.”
Ohio, which lost in the first round of last year’s MAC Tournament as a No. 11 seed, is seeking its first tournament win since the 2011-12 season.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohiou.edu
Up Next:
Who: No. 6 Toledo vs. No. 11 Ohio
When: 7 p.m., Monday
Where: Savage Arena, Toledo
— The winner will advance to play in the second round in Cleveland on Wednesday.
