March 6, 2015
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio men's basketball team (9-19, 4-13 MAC) concludes the 2014-15 regular season campaign and celebrates Senior Day as the Bobcats host Mid-American Conference East Division archrival Miami (13-17, 8-9 MAC) in a `Battle of the Bricks' matchup on Friday (March 6) at the Convocation Center. The opening tip is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
Friday's game will be broadcast on the Ohio IMG Sports Network, with 'Voice of the Bobcats' Russ Eisenstein and Rob Cornelius on the call. A free live stream is available on OhioBobcats.com. Pregame coverage is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET. A free live statistical feed will be provided on OhioBobcats.com via Gametracker.
FRIDAY'S MATCHUP
SALUTE THE SENIORS
The Bobcats will honor the careers of forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) and guards Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) and Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) prior to Friday's game. The trio has combined to help Ohio record 87 victories over the last four seasons and reach the postseason three times.
Taylor was a member of Ohio's MAC Tournament championship team and NCAA Championship Sweet Sixteen qualifer in 2012 and the MAC regular season championship and NIT qualifier in `13. His 135 games played ranks fifth in school history.
The trio helped guide the Bobcats to the CIT quarterfinals in 2014.
Ohio men's basketball will also recognize the contributions of its four senior student managers -- Sean Sims, Joe Ranallo, Corey Perez and Michael Gallo.
SEEDING SET
The Bobcats have clinched the No. 11 seed in the 2015 MAC Championship, which begins next Monday (March 9) at campus sites. The league's top two seeds clinch byes to the semifinals next Friday (March 13) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Seeds three and four clinch byes to the third round on Thursday (March 12) at the Q. Seeds 5-8 will play host to the first round games on Monday.
Ohio will visit the No. 6 seed next Monday. The Bobcats will play at Akron if the Zips beat Kent State on Friday. Ohio will play at Western Michigan if Akron loses and the Broncos beat Central Michigan on Friday. If Ohio loses to Miami and both Akron and Western Michigan on Friday, the Bobcats will visit the RedHawks next Monday.
OHIO SUFFERS SETBACK AT BUFFALO
Ndour totaled a game-high 25 points and blocked a game-high three shots, but Ohio was saddled with a 93-66 loss to MAC East Division rival Buffalo on Tuesday (March 3) at Alumni Arena.
SCHAUS NAMED TO DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL COMMITTEE
Two Division I administrators with extensive basketball backgrounds have been named to the Division I Men's Basketball Committee.
Jim Schaus, a former member of the men's basketball rules committee, and Kevin White, who has more than 30 years of experience as a collegiate administrator, will begin their terms Sept. 1, 2015. The duo will replace current committee chair Scott Barnes, the vice president and director of athletics at Utah State, and Conference USA Executive Associate Commissioner Judy MacLeod, whose terms expire Aug. 31.
Schaus became Ohio director of athletics in April 2008 after spending nine years leading the athletic department at Wichita State. Schaus' nearly quarter century of experience in intercollegiate athletics includes stops at Oregon, Cincinnati, UTEP and Northern Illinois.
Schaus was a member of the initial NCAA Division I Committee on Academic Performance and has served men's basketball as a member of the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee. A 1983 Purdue graduate, Schaus went on to earn a master's degree from West Virginia, where he was recently honored as a distinguished alumnus by the institution. His father, the late Fred Schaus, was the head coach at Purdue and West Virginia as well as the Los Angeles Lakers, and was a member of the men's basketball committee from 1987-90 while he was the director of athletics at West Virginia.
MAC MILESTONES FOR #SAULBALL
First-year head coach Saul Phillips picked up his first career MAC victory with an 82-73 win at Ball State on Jan. 21 while Ohio earned its first true road triumph of the 2014-15 season. As an encore, he earned his first home MAC win against Buffalo -- thrilling 63-51 win on Jan. 24 at the Convocation Center.
OHIO IN MAC PLAY
The Bobcats are coming off an 11-7 MAC season in 2014. Ohio is 556-437 (.560) all-time in league play and has captured 10 MAC regular season crowns -- most recently in 2013 when the `Cats went 14-2 in conference play.
PLANET NDOUR
Ndour is the only player on the team to start all 28 games this season for Ohio, leading the squad with averages of 15.1 points per game (seventh in the MAC; 424), 8.1 rebounds (second in the MAC; 228), 2.1 blocks (second in the MAC; 59), 5.0 free throw attempts (140), 3.9 free throws made (110) and 34.6 minutes played (970). He also ranks second on the team with 11.3 field goal attempts (317), 1.1 steals (31) and a .786 free throw percentage (110-of-140) and ranks third with 1.7 assists per game (48).
Ndour's 59 blocks put him in sole possession of eighth place on the program's single-season blocks list. He ranks seventh in school history with 114 career blocks.
Ndour leads the team with 15.2 points per game (258) and leads the squad with 8.1 rebounds per game (137) and 2.3 blocks per game (39) in conference play.
Ndour has recorded a team-high 24 double-figure scoring outings -- including six 20-point efforts. He has tallied a team-high eight double-doubles and a team-high nine double-digit rebounding efforts. Ndour has led the team in scoring nine times and in rebounds a team-high 14 times.
Ndour started 31 of 36 games in 2013-14, earning Second Team All-MAC and Second Team NABC All-District 14 honors. He ranked 11th in the MAC in scoring (13.8 points per game), seventh in rebounding (7.0 rebounds per game), ninth in field goal percentage (.511) and sixth in blocks (1.5 per game). Ndour led Ohio with four double-doubles and six double-figure rebounding games. He paced the Bobcats in scoring in 16-of-36 games and rebounding in 20 games, notching at least 10 points in 25 games and posting 20-plus points in nine contests.
Ndour competed for his home country of Senegal in the 2014 FIBA World Cup. In six FIBA World Cup Games, he averaged 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 21.3 minutes per game.
THE POINT MAN
Willis has started all 27 games he's played in, ranking second on the team with 14.3 points per game (11th in the MAC; 387) while leading the squad with 12.2 field goals attempted (330), 7.3 three-point field goals attempted (198), 2.8 three-point field goals made (third in the MAC; 76), an .860 free throw percentage (37-of-43) and 3.0 assists per game (14th in the MAC; 81). He also ranks second on the squad with 5.1 field goals made (137), a .384 three-point field goal percentage (76-of-198) and 32.8 minutes played per game (885) and third on the squad with 0.8 steals per game (22).
Willis has tallied 18 double-figure scoring games -- including six 20-plus point efforts -- and has led the team in scoring a team-high 11 times and assists a team-high 14 times.
Willis ranks second on the team lead with13.5 points (229) and 2.8 assists (47) per game during conference play.
Willis has reached double figures in seven of the last 10 games, has led the squad in scoring in four of the last 10 and has led the team in assists in four of the last 11.
Willis was named MAC East Division Player of the Week for the first time in his career as well as High-Major National Player of the Week by College Sports Madness on Feb. 9 after averaging a team-high 26.5 points and 4.0 assists to go along with 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals over two games the previous week.
Willis saw action in all 37 games in 2013-14, starting 12. He averaged 6.9 points, 2.6 assists and shot 38 percent from three-point territory. Willis had an exceptional postseason for Ohio, averaging 12.8 points and 3.3 assists while shooting a team-best 48.4 percent (15-31) from three-point land during the MAC Tournament and CIT. Ohio posted a 9-2 record when Willis scored 10-plus points in 2013-14.
TONY THE TIGER
Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) has started 23 of the 28 games he's played, leading the squad with a .492 field goal percentage (117-of-238; 13th in the MAC), averaging 10.4 points per game (291) to rank third on the team, ranking second on the squad with 7.4 rebounds (tied for fifth in the MAC; 208), 1.0 blocks (27) and tied for second with 1.0 three-point field goals made (27). He ranks third on the team with 8.5 field goal attempts (238) and 4.2 field goals made per game (117), tied for fourth with 0.5 steals per game (14) and fifth with 24.1 minutes per game (676).
Campbell has recorded 16 double-figure scoring efforts to rank third on the team, nine double-doubles to lead the squad, 10 double-figure rebounding games to lead the team and has led the team in rebounds 12 times to rank second on the team.
Campbell ranks third on the team with 10.7 points (182) and second with 7.4 rebounds (125) and 1.2 blocks (20) in conference play.
Campbell has reached double figures in scoring in nine of the last 11 games with six double-doubles.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Under third-year head coach John Cooper, Miami has won five of its last six games to enter Friday's regular season finale with an overall record of 13-17 and a conference mark of 8-9. The RedHawks are coming off of a 70-63 win over Akron on Tuesday at Millett Hall in Oxford. Senior guard Will Sullivan led the way with 15 points and 10 boards.
Sullivan (10.7 points per game) is one of three RedHawks to average double figures in 2014-15. He's joined by junior guards Eric Washington (14.7) and Geovonie McKnight (10.8.)
SERIES HISTORY
Ohio owns a 103-92 advantage in the all-time series with Miami, but the Bobcats were unable capitalize on building a halftime lead in its first `Battle of the Bricks' matchup with the RedHawks on Feb. 14 at Millett Hall. Ohio built a 41-38 halftime lead after shooting 50 percent from the field (17-of-34) in the opening 20 minutes. Miami answered the challenge in the second half, however, outscoring the Bobcats, 39-25. The RedHawks turned seven second-half turnovers by Ohio into 13 points. Miami finished the game with 23 points off of 12 Ohio turnovers. Miami shot 58.3 percent from the field (14-of-24) in the final 20 minutes of play. The RedHawks held Ohio to 40 percent (10-of-25) in the second half. Campbell led Ohio with a double-double, scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting -- including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc -- in addition to hauling in a game-high 10 rebounds. He also tallied a game-high two blocks, dished out an assist and collected a steal.Willis added 14 points off of 6-of-14 shooting. He also handed out three assists, grabbed three rebounds and recorded a steal. Ndour totaled 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a game-high two steals and a block. McKnight and Washington each tallied 17 points to lead Miami. McKnight grabbed a team-high six rebounds, collected a game-high three steals and recorded a block. Washington handed out a game-high seven assists, totaled three boards and posted a block. Sullivan chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and a block for the RedHawks. Freshman guard Zach McCormick scored 10 points and grabbed a rebound off of the bench for Miami.
Ohio has won three straight over Miami in Athens -- including an 82-75 victory on Feb. 8, 2014, in the most recent meeting at the Convo between the two squads. The Bobcats outscored the Redhawks, 50-28, in the second half and held Miami to just 12.5 percent shooting from three-point land in the period. The defense was much improved in the second half, as the `Cats forced the RedHawks into eight turnovers and limited Miami to 40.7 shooting after the visitors knocked down 14-of-26 attempts in the opening stanza. Ndour chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort, while Stevie Taylor added nine points and a team-high six assists.
#SaulBall
