Ohio defeated Coppin State 87-62 on Saturday in The Convo to improve to its best start since 1985, but coach Bob Boldon still feels like his team isn’t worth the hype.
“We’re just not good,” Boldon said. “Our record says we’re good, you guys say we’re good but we’re just not yet. We’re trying, we’re young, we’re inexperienced and that showed today.”
Not once this season have the Bobcats played a complete game. Slow starts and flat finishes have been the team’s weakness. That was the case again Saturday.
Ohio (8-0) came out against the Eagles after defeating Big Ten foe Purdue on Wednesday night and expected an easy win. Coppin State (0-7) came into Saturday’s matchup winless and showed no threat to the Bobcats.
But after a sloppy first quarter from both teams, Ohio was tied with what an overmatched opponent.
“We knew we couldn’t take them lightly, but unfortunately we did,” Kendall Jessing said. “We can never overlook an opponent and I think that’s where we got caught.”
After entering the locker room up four, Ohio came out in the second half and did what it’s expected to do: Play above the level of its competition, go on runs and win by double digits. It’s a story that has been told time and again this season.
But Boldon is tired of that tale. He doesn’t think the Bobcats can continue to win with incomplete performances.
“You can’t play one good quarter of basketball and expect to win in our league,” Boldon said “And that’s the scary part heading into these next couple games, we’ll get beat by 20 or 30 by IUPUI with only one good quarter.”
So far, Ohio has done well with its second half heroics, and while the team is undefeated, there are still questions the Bobcats haven’t answered.
Out out its eight games, six have been at home and none have been true road games. The other two were during Ohio’s trip to Denver, where it played on a neutral court. The Bobcats have played only one Power Five team this season and still haven’t started conference play.
But Ohio will soon be tested.
Ohio makes the first stop of its four game road trip next Sunday when it plays IUPUI in Indianapolis. Last season the Bobcats lost to IUPUI at home. They went 1-3 when they faced a four game stretch of road games.
Luckily for the Bobcats, the team will be out of school when it travels to IUPUI, Richmond, American and Mid-American Conference rival Buffalo.
“That’s as good of a time as any to be on the road,” Boldon said.
The last time Ohio was 8-0 was 1985. That squad ended its season with a regular season MAC Championship, a MAC Tournament Championship and a berth to the NCAA tournament. while this team does have the potential to achieve the same accolades, it’s too early to tell.
“I think we show signs of greatness,” Jessing said “But to be a great team you have to play all 40 minutes of basketball and we’re not quite there yet.”
