Leon Williams does not recall last season's Mid-American Conference tournament loss to Miami fondly.
The second-round matchup, won by the RedHawks 70-51, is a defeat that the senior forward said still resonates within in him as he prepares for his final home game in the Battle of the Bricks series.
It's still definitely in my mind
he said. We still hear about 'Miami this Miami that ' so I don't like to hear that all the time
and I'm sure my teammates don't either.
We're going to be ready to play come (tomorrow).
Like his frontcourt teammate
forward Jerome Tillman has not forgotten what transpired against the RedHawks in the MAC Tournament a year ago
but said that the team can not get too caught up in the past.
Since they won the tournament, it's in the back of your head, he said. You want to defend The Convo and win any game in the MAC. We think about it, but we can't beat ourselves up over it.
Guard Bubba Walther echoed Tillman's sentiments and added the game is more about rebounding from a 52-49 defeat to Bowling Green last Saturday.
They did beat us really badly, and I remember sitting in the locker room with Leon talking about how this is going to be our last year, he said. But I don't think you can take a MAC tournament game and carry it over into the next regular season game.
We need a win because we lost to BG
Walther continued. We don't need a win because Miami beat us in the tournament.
Like the Bobcats (9-5, 0-1 MAC), the RedHawks come to Athens 0-1 in the conference, as they dropped their MAC opener on the road to Akron, 69-54, in a rematch of last season's MAC Tournament final. In that game, guard Doug Penno hit a 3-pointer as time expired to send the RedHawks to the NCAA Tournament.
Bobcats coach Tim O'Shea compared Akron's victory the RedHawks of this season to a Bobcats loss at Buffalo in 2006. Ohio defeated the Bulls in the 2005 MAC tournament final on an overtime tip-in at the buzzer by Williams.
(After that) the first time we went up to Buffalo
they had 9
000 people there
and they just blitzed us
he said. My guess is it was probably the same way for Akron after having lost in the MAC Tournament
