ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio men's basketball team (0-0) opens the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, Nov. 8 when the Bobcats take on Troy (1-0) for the first game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center. The Bobcats matchup will be seen on ESPN+ where Marty Bannister, Dave Cecutti and Sam Hyman will have the call. 

The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield. Russ Eisenstein returns for his 16th season as the "Voice of the Bobcats" and will be joined by Ohio alum Rob Cornlius, who has been a part of the broadcasts for two decades. WXTQ (Power 105) in Athens returns as the 11-station network's flagship. 

STORYLINES
• This is the first-ever meeting between the Bobcats and Troy.
• This is the first game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Ohio will go to a Sun Belt school on Tuesday, Feb. 10 for the second game. 
• Ohio has registered an impressive 554-179 (.756) all-time record at the Co1vocation Center, which opened in 1968.
• Ohio finished 14-1 in the Convo this season.
• The Bobcats were selected to finish third in the MAC Preseason Poll. 
• Senior guard Jaylin Hunter was named to the All-MAC Preseason First Team. 
• Sophomore guard AJ Brown was named to the All-MAC Preseason Second Team. 
• Ohio returns 11 from last year's team, including seven who made significant contribution. 
• The Bobcats welcome three newcomers to the roster, including transfers Shereef Mitchell from Creighton, Ike Cornish from Maryland and freshman Ben Nicol. 
• Ohio was selected 21 in the CollegeInside.com Men's Mid-Major Top 25 Preseason Poll. 
• Ohio will play in the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, Nov. 24-26, at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center.
• Ohio will play in the Legends of Basketball Showcase on Dec. 30 against Davidson at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.
• Senior guard Jaylin Hunter needs 36 points to reach 1,000 in his career. 
• Ohio finished last season 19-14 with a 10-8 mark in MAC play and finished the season in the MAC Tournament Semifinals. 

SCOUTING TROY
Troy enters the matchup with the Bobcats with a 1-0 record after defeating Fort Lauderdale, 92-47 Monday afternoon (Nov. 6). 

Troy was selected to finish 8th in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll, while Christyon Eugene and Aamer Muhammad earned a spot on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.  

Overall, Troy averages 92.0 points a game, while shooting .466 from the field, .242 from three and .667 from the line. Troy also averages 45.0 rebounds a game, 18.0 assists and 11.0 steals a game. Troy also forces 21.0 turnovers a game. 

Meanwhile, Opponents average 47.0 points and 29.0 rebounds a game. Opponents also shoot .314 from the field, .091 from three and .583 from the line. Opponents also dish out 4.0 assists and grab 8.0 steals a game, while also forcing 13.0 turnovers a game. 

Individually, Tayton Conerway averages 15.0 points per game, while shooting .571 from the field, .400 from three and .833 from the free throw line. Christyon Eugene adds 11.0 points, while shooting .500 from the field and .714 from the line, while also adding six rebounds. Myles Rigsby also added 11 points and nine rebounds

SCOUTING OHIO
The Bobcats open the 2023-24 season on Wednesday against Troy. 

Ohio returns 11 from last year's team, including seven who made significant contribution. Included in that list is fifth year guard Miles Brown who averaged 10.0 points last season, senior guard Jaylin Hunter with 13.2 points a game, and guard AJ Brown with 10.3 points. 

The Bobcats welcome three newcomers to the roster, including transfers Shereef Mitchell from Creighton, Ike Cornish from Maryland and freshman Ben Nicol. 

ALL TIME VS. TROY
This is the first meeting between Ohio and Troy. 

PROTECT THIS HOUSE
Ohio has registered an impressive 554-179 (.756) all-time record at the Convocation Center, which opened in 1968.

Ohio finished 14-1 in the Convo this season.

MAC-SUN BELT CHALLENGE
This is the first game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. 

The MAC-SBC Challenge -- a scheduling alliance in the sports of men's and women's basketball -- will kick off during the opening week of the 2023-24 season this November with 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) men's basketball programs hosting 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) teams, while the 12 MAC women's basketball programs will visit 12 SBC teams. The Ohio men's basketball team will open the season on Wednesday, Nov. 8 against Troy in Athens, while the Ohio women's basketball team will face off with App State on the road on Saturday, Nov. 11.  

The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, with the matchups based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC women and Sun Belt men will host the February matchups.  

Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge, currently scheduled to take place during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns, is guaranteed one home and one away game each season. 

Scheduling assistance is provided by Ordinal Sports Group. In addition to relevant NET data, geography and frequency of past contests are considered in determining the matchups.  

MARCH TO 1,000
Senior guard Jaylin Hunter needs 36 points to reach 1,000 in his career. 

Fifth year guard Miles Brown needs  296 points for the same milestone. 

MAC PRESEASON NOTES
The Bobcats were selected to finish third in the MAC Preseason Poll. 

Senior guard Jaylin Hunter was named to the All-MAC Preseason First Team. 

Sophomore guard AJ Brown was named to the All-MAC Preseason Second Team. 

HEADED TO PARADISE
Ohio is set to compete in the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship, Nov. 24-26, at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center.

The eight-team field features Brown, Delaware, George Washington, UIC, Kansas City, Middle Tennessee, UNC Greensboro and Ohio.

Ohio will face off with Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. on FloHoops.com.

BOBCATS IN THE LAND
Ohio will play in the Legends of Basketball Showcase on Dec. 30 against Davidson at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m.

The Day will be a triple header basketball day in Cleveland, with St. Bonaventure/Akron to follow the Bobcats and with Ohio State and West Virginia to serve as the night cap. 

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM PRESEASON POLL
Ohio was selected 21 in the CollegeInside.com Men's Mid-Major Top 25 Preseason Poll. 

OHIO RETURNERS
Ohio Returns 11 from last year's team, including seven who made significant contribution.

JAYLIN HUNTER: Played in 33 games while making 32 start and averaged 13.2 points a game, while shooting .441 from the field, .408 from three and .753 from the line. He dished out an average of 4.2 assists per game and averaged 3.6 rebounds and recorded 58 steals. He scored a career-high 27 points against Toledo on March 10 in the MAC Semifinals where he went 9-of-18 from the field and hit a career-high seven threes. He had 22 double figure scoring games and had five 20+ scoring performances. He was name MAC Player of the Week once and was name Honorable Mention All-MAC.

MILES BROWN: Played and started all 33 games for the Bobcats and Averaged 10.0 points per game and scored a career-high 329 points in the season. He shot a career-bests .444 from the field and .447 from three, while making 55 threes and shot .725 from the free throw line. He averaged 3.1 rebounds and1.9 assists per game, while also grabbing 40 steals. He also scored a career and season best 27 points against Central Michigan on Jan. 21, while going 9-of-12 from the field and a career-best 6-of-9 from three and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds at #20 Michigan on Nov. 20.

AJ BROWN: Played in 28 games, making six starts where he averaged 10.3 points, while shooting .426 from the field, .375 from three and .776 from the line. He averaged 2.5 rebounds and had 22 assists and 21 steals. He scored a career-high 28 points on March 9 in the MAC Quarterfinals against Ball State, going 10-of-16 from the field, 5-of-10 from three, 3-of-3 from the line and grabbed seven rebounds and grabbed seven rebounds and scored 13 points against Toledo in the MAC Semifinals. Made his debut on Nov. 25 against Eastern Illinois and was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.

ELMORE JAMES: Played in 31 games for Ohio while making 15 starts and averaged 6.8 points a game. He shot .510 from the field, .405 from three and .787 from the line. He scored a career-high 21 points at Toledo on Jan. 17 and went a season best 8-of-10 from the field at Toledo. Was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team.

OTHER KEY RETURNERS
AJ CLAYTON: Played in 33 games, making 16 starts where he averaged 7.8 points a game. He shot .430 from the field, .324 from three and .897 from the line and averaged 4.7 rebounds a game and dished out 19 assists and had 11 steals. He recorded 21 blocks on the season. He also scored a career-high 23 points at Delaware on Dec. 21 where he went 6-of-11 from the field, 2-of-6 from three and 9-for-9 from the line.

GABE WIZNITZER: Played in 32 games, making one start. He averaged 3.3 points a game, while shooting .512 from the field and .710 from the line and averaged 3.3 rebounds a game. He scored a season-high 15 points at Marshall on Dec. 3 where he went 6-of-7 from the field. He grabbed a season-high nine rebounds against Stetson on Dec. 17. 

OTHER FAMILIAR FACES
Ohio also returns Ajay Sheldon, Ben Estis, Quinn Corna, Aidan Hadaway and IJ Ezuma from last year's roster. 

OHIO ADDS TWO TRANSFERS
The Bobcats added two transfers to the roster for 2023-24 with guard Shereef Mitchell coming from Creighton and guard/forward Ike Cornish coming from Maryland. 

SHEREEF MITCHELL: In his four seasons at Creighton, the elite Big East defender played in 99 games for the Bluejays, while making four starts. He averaged 11.8 minutes a game and is a career 71.0 percent free throw shooter. In his time at Creighton, Mitchell played in seven NCAA Tournament games, including five wins, which is the second-most in Creighton program history. This season, Mitchell helped lead the Bluejays to the elite Eight, where they fell to the eventual national runners-up, San Diego State by one point.

IKE CORNISH: After redshirting his freshman year at Maryland,Cornish saw action in 21 games last season, while averaging 1.4 points and 4.9 minutes a game. He scored a career-high nine points against Binghamton on Nov. 15 and played a career-high 13 minutes against Saint Peter's on Dec. 22. 

Prior to his time at Maryland, Cornish was a consensus four-star recruit via all major recruiting publications. He was the No. 77 overall player, No. 13 overall shooting guard, No. 3 overall player in the state of MD, according to 247Sports and was the No. 32 overall shooting guard and No. 5 player in the state of Maryland via ESPN.

NICOL JOINS OHIO
Forward Ben Nicol joins Ohio is the Bobcat's lone freshman. 

In his career, Nicol averaged 13.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. During his freshman year, Nicol was named All-Kanawha Valley Rookie First Team and helped his team go 18-5 and claim the Mountain State Athletic Conference Championship, and the No.3 Seed in AAA State Tournament before COVID-19 cancellation. Nicol returned the following year and helped the same team go 17-1 and repeat as Mountain State Athletic Conference Champions before going on to be crowned 2020-2021 AAAA State Champions. Nicol wrapped up the season as an All-Kanawha Valley Third Team and was AAAA All-State Honorable Mention.

During his junior season, Nicol led George Washington to a 20-6 record and another Mountain State Athletic Conference Championship. They were selected at the No. 5 Seed in AAAA State Tournament. After the season, Nicol once again earned postseason honors and was named All-Kanawha Valley First Team and AAAA First Team All-State.

BOALS BACK FOR YEAR FIVE
Head coach Jeff Boals returns for his fifth season leading the Bobcats. 

Boals is currently 77-45 in his time at Ohio with a career record of 133-89. 

NEW YEAR, SAME STAFF
The Bobcats return all of it's coaching staff from last season. Lamar Thornton and Kyle Barlow are back for year five, while Lee Martin is back for his fourth season. 

UP NEXT
Up next, the Bobcats have a quick turnaround as they head to Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 11 to take on Cleveland State. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside the Wolstein Center. The game will be seen on ESPN+. 

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