Coach Tim O'Shea was not a fun person to be around prior to yesterday's game.
Even his family could feel the pressure that was riding on the coach's shoulders before Ohio beat Toledo 91-80 last night in The Convo. I was a miserable person to be around today
O'Shea said on game day. I usually don't get like that. My wife didn't want any part of me. I didn't care about what she was doing today or my daughter's schoolwork. I was just really on edge.
And for good reason.
O'Shea had watched enough tape to know just how good Toledo was. It was no fluke that they had jumped out to a 7-0 start in Mid-American Conference play.
The coach also knew a two-game road trip was looming on the horizon. If his team were to fall at home, a place where they've been unbeatable so far this season, staying in the MAC East Division race would be unrealistic.
O'Shea's nerves were calmed, however, as the Bobcats showed that they are still very much in the MAC East race last night with their best effort so far in conference play.
After struggling to hit any outside shots the two previous games, Ohio did most of its damage from the perimeter against a Toledo team that gave them wide-open looks throughout the game.
Point guard Sonny Troutman paced the Bobcats' offense, leading the team with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting. More importantly, it was Troutman who got the Bobcats' offense going, especially in the second half, as he had no trouble breaking a notoriously tough Rockets' press.
In the last couple years he's really been a barometer for our success O'Shea said. When he plays well
we usually win. I thought he had as good a game as he's had in his entire career here when you look at the whole picture.
Troutman credited strong preparation for how the Bobcats were able to break the press so easily.
We took the whole practice to focus on controlling the ball and how their press was going to be
Troutman said. I felt like our practice squad gave us a better look than they did tonight.
Down by a point at the end of the first half, the Bobcats' offense found its rhythm in the second half, on the way to tying a season-high for points in a half with 55.
A 15-5 run midway through the half helped Ohio pull away from a Toledo team that had no problem trading baskets with the Bobcats. Key defensive stops and better ball handling led to easy points in Ohio's half-court offensive sets and transition.
It also didn't hurt that their shots were falling.
Tonight it just showed that
if we are hitting
I don't think there are any teams in the MAC that can beat us
guard Bubba Walther said. We just need to be able to do this on the road instead of every other game at home.
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