Jason Preston and Dwight Wilson hung back and watched their teammates warm up for Ohio’s first game in three weeks. Neither were moving around much. The pair stood on the half-court line wearing sweatpants and long-sleeve Ohio shirts. Wilson had sustained a minor injury earlier that week, and Preston was not cleared to play until Ohio’s game against Eastern Michigan at the earliest.
The Bobcats were reentering the season without two of their best starters.
On paper, Ohio’s chances were slim to none. A two-week halt in activities due to COVID-19 issues spells doom for most teams. No one had stepped inside The Convo to practice until the week before the season was set to resume. Preston and Wilson sitting out of a rematch against the No. 2 team in the Mid-American Conference might as well have been Ohio’s death knell.
Coach Jeff Boals knew a win against Akron was a steep hill to climb. Ohio just needed the right footing. Before the Bobcats headed out for warmups, Boals gave them a simple plan — play with confidence.
“We're down four guys,“ Boals said after the game. “The last thing we told them coming out of locker room was play with confidence. If you're open, shoot the ball. If they're on you, drive the ball.”
Simple as it was, Boals’ words resonated. Ohio trounced Akron 90-73 in a game few, if any, expected it to win. The Zips had been tearing up the Mid-American Conference all season, entering Tuesday with a four-game win streak and ranking second in the conference standings. Unlike Ohio, they were healthy and hadn’t had to pause practice.
When the Bobcats (12-6, 8-4 MAC) last faced Akron on Dec. 22, 2020, they left James A. Rhodes Arena with a chip on their shoulder. The Zips acted like an older brother who pushed them around and got into their heads, resulting in a 90-70 blowout that left a sour taste in the Bobcats’ mouths.
This time, Ohio bit back. It didn’t care if two starters were out. Ohio still had three veteran starters and a host of underclassmen willing to prove themselves.
“Everybody coming back expects us to maybe not play as well, but we had a different mindset,“ Ben Vander Plas said. “We wanted to come in and just perform. We were all excited to be back out here.”
Vander Plas ended Tuesday with 17 points, tied for the team-high alongside Ben Roderick. The pair have been known for their efficiency behind the arc, but Tuesday was on another level. Not just Vander Plas and Roderick, but the Bobcats as a whole were sinking 3-pointers with ease. Ohio was a season-best 10-for-19 behind the line against the Zips.
With only three of Ohio’s starters on the court, Boals dug deep into his bench and utilized every player he had available. Freshmen Mark Sears, who had earned his stripes during Preston’s first absence, and Colin Granger were thrust into the starting lineup.
Many of Ohio’s underclassmen haven’t seen much action this season beyond killing time during blowouts. Tuesday, however, was what Boals considered to be the underclassmen’s shining moment.
Jalen White played for only nine minutes and went 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. White has averaged 6.4 minutes a game and 2.5 points per game in his freshman season, but Tuesday, he sank every shot he took.
Granger was a 6-foot-9 roadblock the Zips couldn’t fight through. He and junior Rifen Miguel refused to let the Zips get a shot off and weren’t afraid to get physical. The duo were both eventually taken out of the game with five personal fouls each, but they had stumped Akron’s offense long enough for Ohio to pull ahead.
“I think a big part of it is some of the guys ... got a couple extra minutes that they normally might not have,“ Vander Plas said. “They all performed today, and they really bought into what coach is talking about with confidence, and that's definitely gonna carry over for everybody on the team for the next couple days.”
Before Tuesday, Boals emphasized no one is going to feel sorry if Ohio was slow out of the gate after normal operations resumed. Two weeks remain in the season until the MAC Championship in Cleveland, and the Bobcats are still gunning for a spot. Now that the Bobcats have blown out the No. 2 team in the conference, their remaining opponents aren’t going to let them off easy.
A win against Akron during a normal schedule is impressive, but Ohio’s win Tuesday was monumental. The Bobcats, without two of their best players and on less than a week of practice, upset one of the MAC’s strongest teams. If this spark continues to burn over the next four games, Ohio will blaze a trail to Cleveland.
