Ohio’s game against Northern Illinois on Wednesday is postponed due to roster issues related to COVID-19 with the Bobcats, the Mid-American Conference announced in a statement earlier Tuesday afternoon.
Two of Ohio’s assistant coaches, Tavares Jackson and Marwan Miller, missed Saturday’s game against Western Michigan due to contact tracing issues. This is Ohio’s first postponed game all season. There is currently no reschedule date for the game against the Huskies.
Going forward, Ohio does not have a game scheduled for Saturday, so it will get a week-and-a-half rest from its last game until it has to resume play against Bowling Green on Feb. 24.
This rest may also give Ohio a chance to regain health. Erica Johnson has been day-to-day while missing the last four games with a knee injury. The Bobcats have won three of those four games but are still missing their second-leading scorer.
The timing of the postponement may come in handy to get Johnson back as Ohio (12-6, 10-5 MAC) makes its final MAC Tournament push. The Bobcats are currently fourth in the conference, and if the season ended today, they would play rival Buffalo in the first round of the eight-team tournament.
As long as Ohio is able to quickly resolve its COVID-19 issue, it should not have to worry about potentially being knocked out of the MAC Tournament, which starts on March 10, due to sickness.
