Almost four months ago, Ohio was the near-unanimous selection to finish first in the Mid-American Conference. All things considered, Ohio was coming off a season much like this one; a slow start out of the gate, a dominant record at home and a massive improvement into conference play. This year’s team was just missing that statement win.
Last Saturday, it got that win. Ohio brought 13-0 No. 1 Akron into The Convo, snapping its opponent’s nation-best winning streak with a dominant 84-67 victory. Beyond putting Ohio in a better spot with four games left, this victory showed the team can hang with anybody in the MAC.
“With everything we’ve been through, all that (preseason No. 1 talk) went out the window a long time ago,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “The biggest thing for us has been staying as healthy as we can, staying as together as we can and just keep getting better.”
Ohio’s struggles are well-documented. In the team’s last matchup against Akron, the course of Ohio’s season changed massively. Junior guard Elmore James was away from the team, forward Aidan Hadaway suffered a season-ending ankle injury and senior star AJ Clayton, who looked inhuman entering the matchup, had one of his worst games.
In the time since, James has come back and Clayton has struggled with injuries, but against Akron, Ohio looked its healthiest since its first matchup with Akron. In the wake of injuries, Ohio’s other options have also begun to strive.
Transfer point guard Jackson Paveletzke has had his best stretch of the season, commanding Ohio’s offense, averaging over 17 points per game in Ohio’s last four MAC games. Graduate leader Shereef Mitchell looks like Ohio’s best player as of late, averaging 20 points per game in the three games leading up to Akron.
Filling in on the starting lineup for Hadaway, freshman Elijah Elliott is a seemingly never-ending story of growth for the Bobcats, as one of its most exciting offensive players.
Although the season hasn’t gone how Boals or the Bobcat faithful expected following the preseason No. 1 selection, the team’s recent stretch has shown there’s no need to worry.
Ohio’s biggest games of the season coming up will be at home, aside from a road matchup against third-ranked Toledo to end the regular season. After a one-off road game against Western Michigan, Ohio will play back-to-back home games against Eastern Michigan and Miami, two teams Ohio lost to on the road.
Luckily for Ohio, the atmosphere in The Convo has only grown since the start of the season. Ohio is historically good at home under Boals, but against Akron, with a raucous blizzard of fans participating in the “White Out” theme, Ohio looked undefeatable.
“I thought our atmosphere was unbelievable, I think it was one of the best of the year,” Boals said. “Moving forward, we have two more home games left. Hopefully, we can continue what we had (against Akron).”
With the win, Ohio secured its spot in the MAC Tournament in Rocket Arena as the fourth team to do so. As the season continues to wind down, Ohio will have a great chance to secure a top three, if not top two, slot in the standings, especially with wins in upcoming games against Miami and Toledo.
Regardless of where they end up in the standings, the Bobcats have proved they were more than deserving of the No. 1 spot they were awarded in the preseason.
