GAME TIME: 2:00 PM ET
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio Men’s Basketball (4-1) returns home after two-consecutive road games to play Morgan State (0-6) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center. With a win, the Bobcats will be off to their best start since the 2005-06 season.
The game will be broadcast live at 2 p.m. with Voice of the Bobcats Russ Eisenstein providing the play-by-play and Rob Cornelius manning color commentary.Ohio had its best shooting game of the season, connecting on 50 percent of its shots in a 70-68 win at previously-undefeated Marshall earlier this week.
Ohio led by as many as 14 in the second half as Reggie Keely paced the Bobcats with 16 points and added five rebounds. Walter Offutt had 13 points and five boards and Ivo Baltic was just shy of a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and the first three-pointer of his career. D.J. Cooper did post a double-double with 11 points and 11 assists to go with four steals.
Marshall, which had dominated its opponents on the boards to a tune of +11.4 per game, only out-rebounded Ohio by one. The Bobcats also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to match their season average, which currently tops the Mid-American Conference. Ohio scored 45 points in the paint (+15), received 28 points from its bench (+17) and had an 18-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
Ohio has three players averaging double figures with Cooper, a junior guard, leading the way with 14.6 points per game. Offutt, a redshirt junior, leads the squad with 6.6 rebounds per game and is third in scoring at 12.4 points per contest. Keely rounds out the trio averaging a career-best 12.8 points, 5.8rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
Coming into the season, Head Coach John Groce had stressed the importance of being sounder defensively and through four games, the work appears to be paying off. Ohio is limiting opponents to 26.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc and is a +4.4 in turnover margin per outing.
A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT
Morgan State is off to an 0-6 start with a road loss at #14/15 Xavier (63-74), a home loss against Murray State (69-80) and losses at UNLV (55-92), USC (62-65) and versus Tennessee State (64-69). The Bears will attempt to avoid its worst start since 2005 today.
MSU, who led for most of the second half, had a 45-37 advantage with 11:59 left before Tennessee State took over and came away with a 69-64 victory at the Las Vegas Invitational. Kevin Thompson led the Bears with 16 points and five rebounds. DeWayne Jackson had 14 and Ian Chiles had nine points.
Morgan State was selected to win the MEAC Regular Season Title, edging out last year’s MEAC Tournament Champion Hampton. The Bears are trying to rebound from last year’s fourth place MEAC finish and reclaim the conference title for the fourth time in five years. MSU completed the 2010-11 season with a 17-14 mark and posted a 10-6 conference record.
HISTORY VS. THE BEARS
This will be the first meeting between the Bears and Bobcats. Ohio is 5-0 all-time against members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (2-0, Coppin State; 2-0, North Carolina A&T; 1-0, Norfolk State). The Green & White host North Carolina A&T later this month, December 23.
RPI RANKINGS
Ohio’s strong start to the season is evident in many areas, but recently the Bobcats showed up at No. 11 in the CBSSports.com Ratings Percentage Index. They are currently the only team ranked among the top 68 from the Mid-American Conference.
In fact, the Bobcats rank above such college basketball heavyweights as Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan State, Indiana, Kansas, Georgetown, Purdue and Xavier.
No comments:
Post a Comment