A missed wide-open layup at the buzzer at Eastern Kentucky.

A questionable charge call with the game tied in regulation against Austin Peay.

A missed 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game against Tennessee State.

All three of theses endings happened in the month of January for Eastern men’s basketball.

And when one looks back at the Panthers’ 2006-07 season, this month stood out the most – for all the wrong reasons.

Take out the entire month of January, and Eastern’s record stands at 9-13 and 5-7 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Still not pretty, but a lot more desirable than the 10-20 record the Panthers finished with.

Eastern’s roster had a brand-new look this past season than it did in Mike Miller’s first year.

He had his players that he wanted for his system.

Yet, they didn’t produce immediate winning results.

The talent is there for Miller to win.

Now change those three outcomes of the games; make them wins instead of losses.

The talk about Eastern basketball would be where the Panthers are playing Tuesday in the first round of the OVC Tournament.

Instead, it now goes to questions of where the program is headed, if they can make the OVC Tournament next year and if they can become a contender in the conference.

And the best part is every one on this year’s roster is coming back next year.

But talented seniors don’t always translate into success.

In fact, Miller said in late August he doesn’t think too much about senior leadership.

Next year, he’ll have five of them, and two who have been around Eastern for at least four years.

Miller did see a four-win improvement from his first year to his second year and should expect the same, and more, in year three.

When analyzing Miller’s second year, it’s hard to find one word that matches the tone of the season.

But one word does sum up this year: inconsistency.

Inconsistency in how Eastern shot the ball, inconsistency in who would score on a given night, inconsistency in the defensive effort and inconsistency on effort sometimes.

Miller expects a lot out of his players, and the learning curve is steep.

At times, especially in the month of January, these moments of inconsistency stood out.

The month started out with a 73-62 loss at Murray State, where Eastern let Murray State’s best 3-pointer shooter, Tyler Holloway, score 22 points and make three 3-pointers in the first four minutes.

A perfect example of the inconsistency is Eastern’s intelligence.

An 80-65 loss at Southeast Missouri, where the Redhawks beat Eastern in every facet of the game (rebounding, inside play, guard play, 3-point shooting). And Eastern allowed 50 second-half points in that loss.

A perfect example of the inconsistency is Eastern’s defensive effort.

The Panthers followed up the poor showing in Cape Girardeau, Mo., with one of their best performances of the year in an 81-76 overtime loss at Austin Peay.

Eastern only followed up its close loss against Austin Peay with a 67-43 embarrassing loss at Tennessee-Martin.

The Panthers had two players score in double figures that game, a perfect example of the inconsistency in Eastern’s offensive effort.

But one can look back at the three games in January and only ponder how Eastern’s season would have been different if it somehow would have won one of those games.

An inconsistent January made for an inconsistent season.