The Bobcats won their second straight game on Saturday and have won four of their past five.
After Ohio’s 76-73 victory over Eastern Michigan on Saturday, the Bobcats have won two games in a row.
It’s only the second time that has happened this season. And despite losing their first four Mid-American Conference games, the Bobcats have won four of their past six.
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After Ohio defeated Ball State and Buffalo two weeks ago, the Bobcats suffered a setback with a 36-point road loss against Eastern Michigan Jan. 27.
On Saturday, the Bobcats got the best of the Eagles (14-9, 3-7 MAC) in a rematch with a 39-point swing in differential from the loss in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to the win in The Convo.
Coach Saul Phillips explained the difference in play between the two games by saying “welcome to college basketball.” He used Duke and Notre Dame as an example, as the Blue Devils won by 30 Saturday after losing against the Fighting Irish just three games prior.
“With this group, we’ve got a lot of young guys and the more they see, the better we get,” redshirt senior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis said. “We went there, we got beat by 36, (Saturday) we prepared well and we changed the outcome.”
Willis, who tied a career-high with 31 points during Ohio’s win over Akron on Wednesday, again paced the Bobcats (9-12, 4-6 MAC) offensively. He struggled to hit shots out of the gate by missing his first five attempts, but he remained confident in his shooting abilities.
“When I was missing my teammates told me to keep shooting,” Willis said. “I realized soon enough they were going to start falling.”
Willis finished with 22 points and three assists. After making just one of eight shots on Eastern Michigan’s home court, Willis was 8-for-18, including six three-pointers.
Maurice Ndour and Antonio Campbell also finished with double-digit points, including Campbell’s fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Ndour scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He almost recorded a double-double of his own, but Campbell said he grabbed a rebounds away from Ndour.
Campbell, a sophomore forward, also said he wanted to “stay the hell away from Michigan” after Ohio’s two losses in the state before returning home, and said Saturday was a revenge game for the players and coaching staff on Saturday.
Phillips didn’t want to overkill the “revenge” vibe prior to Saturday’s game, but he knew he could leave that up the team and its senior leaders.
“If it didn’t make them mad watching that tape this week, then they don’t have a pulse,” Phillips said. “I don’t think there’s any question we came out with way more energy (Saturday). We came out at Eastern Michigan, we missed a bunch of shots early on and it sucked the energy right out of the room.”
Although the Bobcats have momentum following consecutive home victories, Phillips said there still are areas that need improving before finishing the three-game home stand Tuesday against Central Michigan.
“In a game where you have 15 turnovers, there will certainly be things to go back and look at decision making," he said.
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