Ohio kicked off the new year against Western Michigan in search of a fresh start, and the Bobcats won by 31 points.
Twenty-eight days later, the Bobcats will face the Broncos once again, only this time the Bobcats hardly resemble the team that took the floor on Jan. 3. It's really not even close.
Antonio Campbell, that game's leading scorer, won't be in the lineup for Ohio's first rematch of the season Tuesday at 6 p.m at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“It doesn’t feel the same, nothing feels the same without Tone out there," Jaaron Simmons said of the win over Bowling Green on Saturday. "It’s a game for the future, that’s what we wanna look like. Play together, have a lot of assists and attack the gaps. Play inside out.”
Campbell had 22 points in Ohio's 89-58 win in the team's first matchup.
Simmons will have his hands full once again; he and the Bobcats backcourt will be tasked with shutting down Tucker Haymond and Thomas Wilder, the Broncos two high-scoring guards.
Wilder averages 17.7 points per game but had just nine in the first matchup. Haymond averages 14.1 points per game but also had just nine Jan. 3.
“He (Wilder) scares the heck out of me," coach Saul Phillips said. "He’s a good player. But it takes more than one guy guarding him, it takes good help, a good hedge on ball screens. You’ve got a battle of two elite point guards at Western Michigan. Elite point guards ... that’s a reference to P.J. Fleck.”
The shutting down of the guards will be placed on the shoulders of Simmons and fellow guard Jordan Dartis. The Bobcats rank first in scoring defense in the MAC, as they allow just 67.5 points per game.
“Those are two good players and we took it as a challenge, I know I took it as a challenge going up against one of the top guards in the conference," Simmons said of Haymond and Wilder. "I took that as a challenge personally and as a team we take it as a challenge to lock those top guys up and not let them get their average, or do anything they can do to help their team win.”
It isn't just the guards that should scare Ohio (13-6, 5-3 Mid-American Conference), though. Phillips, now in his third season, lost in his only other matchup on the road against the Broncos. The Bobcats last won in Kalamazoo in 2013 and have won just twice since 2000.
“They play very physical at home, they’re very tough at home," Phillips said. "Other than that, I don’t see it as being particularly hostile. They get good crowds, they heckle a little bit, but other than that it’s fine.”
It will be the end of the road of sorts for Ohio, finishing its brutal stretch of five-of-seven games on the road. Ohio is 3-3 in that stretch.
But Phillips is encouraged with where his team is headed. Despite a monstrous matchup with Akron looming, Ohio's main focus is on Western Michigan and a winning record on the road trip.
“All of that has kinda been taken care of with the state we were put in with the injury," Phillips said. "I don’t think for a second our guys don’t know to a man that no one thinks they can win this thing without Tone. Outside of our locker room, nobody does. They're pretty locked in, I was really encouraged.”
