The Ohio men's basketball team will take a break from its conference schedule this weekend when it plays Detroit on Bracket Buster Saturday.
The Bobcats (13-9 overall, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) want to bounce back from a blowout loss to Akron Wednesday night as the Titans (10-14, 7-7 Horizon League) finish up their home stand after a 15-point win against Cleveland State.
Coach Tim O'Shea said his team is over the loss and is focused on getting its confidence back against a tough home team.
They (Detroit) are a very good team
extremely athletic a talented team that plays a lot of players and are a tough tough match up at home
O'Shea said. Guarding their guards will be the big match ups and boxing out will be the key. We don't want to get slammed on the boards.
The Bobcats, who have fallen into a tie with Kent State for fourth place in the MAC, will be playing with two of their starters suffering from injuries.
Guard Jeremy Fears was slowed down in Wednesday's game by a groin injury sustained last Saturday in the game against Miami.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats' leading scorer, guard Mychal Green, has been playing with a sore back for about two weeks.
Healthy or not, the 'Cats will have their paws full Saturday against a strong home team. The Titans are 8-4 at home and, just like the Bobcats, have only two conference road wins.
Forward Sonny Troutman said the team isn't focused on Detroit's record and they need to get the ball to their big man.
This is just another game and we want to focus on us more than anything else
Troutman said. They overplay on defense a lot so our main goal is to get the ball to the post. We didn't do that against Akron and that is a reason why we lost.
With the Titans playing a three-guard lineup the Bobcats will try to get the ball inside to forwards Terren Harbut and Leon Williams who have been successful even when the guards aren't hitting shots.
The Titans are led in scoring by guards Brandon Cotton, who is averaging nearly 18 points per game, and James Thues, who drops in 10 points per game while dishing out 2.5 assists per game.
Guard Jeff Halbert said the team has to play its inside-outside game to attack its defense.
With their ball pressure we are going to get the ball under the basket so we can get our offense running
Halbert said. Once we get the ball to the post we got to kick the ball out and drive to the basket.
Getting the team's confidence back will be another focus for the game, O'Shea said.
The biggest thing with this game is keeping our confidence up through this game and down the stretch
O'Shea said. Every team loses a game by a lot here and there
but that's basketball.
Tip-off is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. Saturday in Calihan Hall.
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