Last Thursday, Ohio men’s basketball was held scoreless in overtime of a road loss to Evansville. On Monday, they were limited to 15 second-half points against George Washington. Tuesday provided better fortunes, however, as the Bobcats defeated DePaul 99-78 in a consolation game at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.

Javarez “Bean” Willis led all scorers with 31 points, while Ohio managed to shoot nearly 60 percent on field goals and only committed 10 turnovers. Antonio Campbell and Maurice Ndour both contributed double-doubles, while Treg Setty and Ryan Taylor each scored 17 points. The Bobcats scored exactly 99 points for the first time since consecutive wins over Buffalo & Northern Illinois (99-77, 99-84) in 2010; they scored over 100 most recently in a four-overtime loss at St. Bonaventure the following season.

Is this the spark that could lead to big things for Ohio in year one under Saul Phillips? The Bobcats are 4-5, having picked up their first win away from the Convocation Center, and will have a chance to go 2-1 in Hawaii on Thursday. Beating a Big East team will also provide a huge boost of confidence, although DePaul has struggled recently; the Blue Demons are now on a five-game losing streak. Both of Ohio’s last two games tipped off at 9:30 AM local time, so the team will now have the rest of Tuesday and all day Wednesday to rest and prepare for their Christmas Day opponent.

Ohio will face the winner of the second consolation game between Nebraska and Loyola-Marymount. Many Bobcat fans are hoping the Cornhuskers win that matchup, for multiple reasons: the sake of playing a Big Ten team; the fact that Nebraska head coach Tim Miles would face a former assistant in Phillips (the two were together at North Dakota State from 2004-2007); also, Ohio football head coach Frank Solich was a former star player and head coach in Lincoln. The players would definitely relish a chance to beat two teams from two historically elite conferences in back-to-back contests.

With the Bobcats putting Monday’s struggles behind them for this win over the Blue Demons, fans can’t wait to see if the team gets on a winning streak to take into conference play.