The Ohio men's basketball team has faced challenge after challenge in the past month and has risen to the occasion more often than not.
Another challenge is right in front of the Bobcats, though, as they welcome Western Michigan (15-6 overall, 8-3 Mid-American Conference) to The Convo on Saturday.
Western Michigan, the 2004 MAC champions, comes into Saturday's conference game at the top of the MAC West division and is an established power in the conference. Ohio, on the other hand, is trying to establish a championship squad. The Bobcats have won five out of their last six contests, including a road victory against Buffalo on Wednesday.
Ohio coach Tim O'Shea said he is pleased with the improvement the Bobcats (11-7, 6-4 MAC) have made in the past month and how they started the second half of the MAC season on Wednesday.
We started out on the road at a very difficult place to play
and we got a win he said. You couldn't ask for a better start to the second half of the MAC regular season. Now we have to capitalize on that by playing well at home. But the guys are in a good place psychologically and mentally; their confidence is in a good place.
The win at Buffalo moved Ohio into a tie for second place in the MAC East Division. Also on the line for the Bobcats is a nine-game home winning streak, including 8-0 this season.
Guard Ben Reed and forward Levi Rost lead the Western Michigan attack. Reed drops in 17.5 points per game while Rost delivers 16.2 points a game.
Western Michigan was ahead of the MAC a couple weeks ago with a record of 13-3, 6-0 in the conference. A recent slide has brought the Broncos back to the pack.
The game marks the fourth consecutive opponent to come into The Convo with an impressive resume, following Kent State, Toledo and Bowling Green.
We've faced the iron of this league and I think we're starting to prove to people Ohio is a legitimate contender in this league O'Shea said. And that is what we've wanted from day one. We wanted
No. 1
to get our credibility and respect back but we wanted people to acknowledge that we are a legitimate contender.
Playing a number of big games has helped the maturation of freshmen Jeremy Fears and Leon Williams as well as junior college transfer Mychal Green.
They're playing in these clutch situations and they're having some success
O'Shea said. And success breeds confidence. I've coached teams that get to a point where they really believe that they're going to win every game. When you get that going
boy
you can really make some things happen.
O'Shea said he wanted the fans to help Ohio gain an important home court advantage.
I'd make an appeal to the students out there that haven't been to a game to come out
he said. We've got a good team and it makes a huge difference to have that O-Zone packed.
The Bobcats will face Western Michigan at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in The Convo.
--Kevin Wiseman
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