Ohio finished the non-conference portion of the schedule Tuesday night and opens MAC play against Western Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 2.
Ohio wrapped up its non-conference schedule and the 2015 calendar year Tuesday night with a 72-49 win over Middle Tennessee State.
The season didn’t start as strong though.
Following Ohio’s 62-53 loss to Illinois, coach Bob Boldon was convinced his team wouldn’t win a game for the rest of November. Not because of the way Ohio played, but rather the difficulty of the schedule.
His team responded in contrary to the statement winning the next three games in November –- Florida Gulf Coast, Winthrop and Indiana –- before losing to Vanderbilt. December treated the Bobcats better as they won five of six, with their only loss to Duquesne.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Boldon said, following Ohio’s win over MTSU.
Though Tuesday night's win was a convincing one, Boldon said his team will open up conference play with three or four really good teams, so things won’t necessarily be easy going into January.
Foul trouble and horrid second-quarter play plagued Ohio in the first 11 games. But the Bobcats’ strengths outweighed those cons as they collected eight wins, when Boldon only gave his team hope of four at this point in the season.
Moving forward, Ohio (8-3) will start to play the games that really matter. Western Michigan is the first Mid-American Conference foe the Bobcats face and it won’t be a simple victory for the reigning MAC Champions.
Last season Ohio lost to WMU in Kalamazoo, 61-51. This year, the ‘Cats have the home-court advantage.
“We all remember them beating us last year at their place,” Boldon said, “so we certainly have some work to do before we play them (Saturday).”
Ohio is the team to beat in conference play.
The question is, can the Bobcats repeat as regular season and MAC Tournament champs?
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