The Bobcats are looking to move past their first loss on Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Win or lose, Ohio coach Saul Phillips says the purpose of playing a non-conference schedule is to prepare for Mid-American Conference play and ultimately the MAC Tournament.
With that mindset, Ohio shouldn’t suffer too many setbacks from last week’s 79-62 loss against Florida Gulf Coast, which led by 25 points and held the Bobcats to 16 percent shooting by halftime.
“You get better,” Phillips said. “I think that’s important for our guys to understand from a confidence standpoint. You lost to a team that’s probably gonna get in the NCAA Tournament and they’re probably going to beat someone.”
He continued to say Ohio also has aspirations of making the NCAA Tournament, but his team needs to grow before it gets there. Despite the loss, Phillips’ expectations for what his team can accomplish also remain unchanged.
Redshirt senior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis called the Bobcats’ first half last Wednesday simply “20 minutes of bad basketball.” Ohio, however, was only playing with seven scholarship players, plus redshirt freshman Khari Harley who didn’t score in seven minutes of action.
Willis and redshirt junior Treg Setty have each served their NCAA-mandated one-game suspensions and the Bobcats’ roster will be closer to full strength for Tuesday’s game in The Convo against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“The only thing you can do is focus on getting past it and getting better,” Willis said. “We’re not worrying about it, we’re just trying to get a win to get the bad taste out our mouth.”
The Golden Lions (1-4) are coming off a 32-point loss to Central Michigan, but Phillips said the Bobcats are focused more on themselves than their opponent.
“Each game you get to learn a little something,” he said. “These guys can teach us something that’ll help us later on. We’ll play teams in the MAC that gets after us.”
Ohio is beginning a four-game homestand and is hoping to not only improve its starts to games, but its ability to avoid pressure when on offense. The Bobcats turned the ball over 10 times against Florida Gulf Coast, but poor first-half shot selection led to easy baskets in transition for the Eagles.
“If we don’t turn the ball over then there’s no way they can get in transition, so we shouldn’t have a problem to win this game,” Willis said.
After making just 5 of 31 first-half attempts last week, shot selection has been a point of emphasis. Phillips is hoping to change that by having the Bobcats pass the ball more, after many of those missed shots came on possessions with just one or two passes.
Willis, who finished with a team-high 17 points against the Eagles, says the Bobcats are still learning Phillips’ system.
“We’re still learning how to create and get better shots,” Willis said. “Hopefully we’ll see it and get better shots and get this thing rolling.”
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