Despite winning more than 20 games for the third time in four years, the Ohio Bobcats failed to win a big game on the road in the 2012-2013 season. Eight of Ohio’s ten loses came away from the Convocation Center. Here’s a closer look at Ohio’s road woes.
After losing the MAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth to Akron on Saturday, it may seem that the Ohio Bobcats have nothing to play for. But that doesn’t mean their season is over.
Sunday night, Ohio received and accepted a bid in the NIT. The 6th seeded Bobcats will play at 3rd seeded Denver Tuesday night. But after the crushing disappointment they experienced Saturday, will Ohio be ready to play?
D.J. Cooper thinks so. The senior wants to squeeze every drop of basketball he can out of his final season.
“I’m going to cherish, wherever we are, the last few games that I play,” he said after Saturday’s loss.
Head coach Jim Christian overcame plenty of challenges: In his first year, he took over a team of mostly seniors and coached them to a share of a regular season conference title. But getting his team to play for nothing but pride may be his biggest challenge yet.
“I hope so,” he said on Saturday about a possible NIT berth. “If we’re lucky enough to get into the NIT, that’s a hell of a deal to get into.”
Christian said he didn’t expect any coaching problems with his team, but he understands his team’s disappointment in missing out on an NCAA berth.
As for Denver, they faced a similar disappointment earlier last week when they were upset in the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament. As the two seed in the tournament, they fell to 12-21 Texas State.
With both teams playing for a consolation prize, Tuesday night’s game will truly come down to who wants it more.
Alex Hider 