Ohio Moves to 2-0 with 64-58 Win Over Butler
Fears Leads Bobcats with 16 Points
Contact: Jim Stephan
12/2/2004
 Sophomore forward Sonny Troutman provided eight points and a game-high five steals in Ohio's 64-58 victory over Butler on Thursday. |
ATHENS, Ohio ? Fresh faces continued to shine for the Ohio men?s basketball team as it delivered a 64-58 win over the previously undefeated Butler Bulldogs Thursday night at the Convocation Center. Coming off the bench, freshman point guard Jeremy Fears (Joliet, Ill.) led the Bobcats to their second victory in as many games with 16 points.
?Jeremy really played well,? said Ohio head coach Tim O?Shea. ?He was very disappointed with how he played against San Francisco on Monday. Tonight I thought mentally he was much better prepared for what he was going to face and what was at stake and he really stepped up.?
Butler (3-1) got a three-pointer from Bruce Horan to start the game and led 12-10 after a trey by A.J. Graves but Ohio?s full-court press gave the Bulldogs problems. A Graves turnover resulting in a fast-break dunk by Fears and a steal and dunk by sophomore forward Sonny Troutman (Indianapolis) gave the Bobcats a 14-12 advantage midway through the half.
Another Horan three-pointer tied the score at 19-19 but the Bobcats went on a 14-5 run to close out the half with their biggest lead at 33-24. Junior college transfer Mychal Green (Columbus) led Ohio at the break with nine points on three-of-four shooting from behind the arc while the Bobcat defensive pressure caused 11 Butler turnovers.
?A strength of this team is athleticism and quickness,? said O?Shea. ?The full-court pressure bothered Butler last year. They want to play a slow, deliberate style. They would like you to pick them up at half-court so they can run 30 seconds of their cutters and all those sets they run.?
In the second half, the Ohio lead extended to 11 twice before the Bulldogs began to claw back. A Brandon Polk dunk cut the lead to four at 39-35 with 15:32 remaining but a Troutman free throw and a Clay McGowen (Westerville) dunk bounced it to seven before a 5-0 run brought Butler within a bucket at 42-40 with 13:12 left to play.
The two teams then traded a pair of free throws before a Jeff Halbert (White Bear Lake, Minn.) three-pointer ignited a 13-6 run by the Bobcats to give them a 59-50 advantage with just under five minutes remaining.
A series of Ohio turnovers, however, allowed the Bulldogs to get back in it and a three-pointer by Butler?s Avery Sheets cut the lead to three with 33 seconds on the clock. A layup by Fears and a Halbert free throw closed out the scoring, though, as the Bobcats held on for the six-point win.
Behind Fears? 16 points, Ohio was led by 13 from Green and 10 points by senior forward Terren Harbut (Lexington, Ky.), who also grabbed five rebounds. Freshman forward Leon Williams (Baltimore) contributed nine points and seven boards while Troutman recorded eight points and a game-high five steals.
Rounding out the Bobcat scoring were Halbert with four points and a game-high nine rebounds and McGowen and senior point guard Diamond Gladney (St. Louis) with two points apiece.
Horan led the Bulldogs with 17 points while Polk added 13 and Brandon Crone chipped in 10. Polk and Crone led Bulter on the glass with six boards apiece as the visitors held a 33-32 rebounding edge.
For the game, Ohio shot 22-of-47 (.468) from the field, 5-of-15 (.333) from three-point range and 15-of-22 (.682) from the free-throw line while the Bulldogs went 19-of-54 (.352) from the field, 7-of-29 (.241) from behind the arc and 13-of-15 (.867) from the charity stripe.
The Bobcats will complete their season-opening three-game home stand with a game against Navy on Saturday. The 7 p.m. contest will conclude a doubleheader with the Ohio women?s team, which is set to play Evansville at 4:30 p.m.
?These two wins give us tremendous momentum going into Saturday and I hope we get another good crowd,? said O?Shea. ?We?ve got talent on our bench that hasn?t been seen yet and if we need to go into our bench, we?ve got some depth there that we can use on Saturday. Guys are chomping at the bit to get an opportunity.?
For ticket information, please contact the Ohio Athletics Ticket Office at 740-593-1300 or toll-free at 800-575-CATS.
