The Bobcats have won two games in a row and can officially call it a winning streak with a third-straight victory against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
It’s funny how much a difference a week can make, especially in the ever-changing Mid-American Conference.
Just last week, Ohio (7-10, 2-4 MAC) was winless in the MAC, still searching for its first conference win. The Bobcats were frustrated and coach Saul Phillips was even pondering ideas about changes in the lineup.
But when you fast forward to this week, after two wins and other surprises around the MAC, the Bobcats have moved up the only winless team in the conference to being in a with four teams at 2-4 in conference play.
The Bobcats now sit just one game away from then-scary Buffalo, and three games behind MAC-leading Kent State.
Phillips said he feels “exponentially better” and never doubts the long-term direction of the team, but the consistency of this year’s team is a different story.
“Until I coach a game that we have zero turnovers and we don’t miss a shot, I’ll find stuff (on film),” he said. “Sometimes I doubt what it’s going to look like tomorrow, but I never doubt what it’s going to look like in two or three years. That’s not acceptable because I’ve got seniors that don’t have two or three years left.”
Ohio’s next opponent, Eastern Michigan, is struggling in conference play as well. The Eagles (12-7, 1-5 MAC) who started MAC play with three straight losses, have dropped each of their last two games by double-digits, and have tarnished their 11-2 nonconference record with five losses in six games in the MAC.
But, it won’t be as easy as advertised, especially on the road. Senior forward Maurice Ndour, who scored a career-high 31 points and threw down the game-winning dunk on Saturday, said the key to the Bobcats’ recent success hasn’t been from the lights-out shooting or confident offense, but rather their efforts on the other side of the court.
After mentioning in prior weeks that he wasn’t always confident on how Ohio would come out to start games, Ndour took his words back after witnessing the resilience in his teammates last week.
“We can talk about offense all day long but at the end of the day it’s that defense and energy,” he said. “I’m just happy that our guys know and understand what we need to do to win games like this.”
But, just like the saying goes, you can’t call it a winning streak until you hit three games. That’s where the Bobcats sit right now, and although it didn’t seem plausible just a week ago, they have a prime opportunity to put together a streak, and continue it into the weekend when they travel to play Central Michigan.
Ndour said he believes that the Bobcats can do “good things” if they continue to play like a team like they have in the past two games.
“I think we just have to come back like any other game and just work,” Ndour said. “These guys have just been patient, I’ve been patient … we just got to keep doing better things.”
@Alex_Busch91
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