ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team heads to Columbus, Ohio for their final exhibition match before the start of the 2025-26 regular season on Sunday, Oct. 26 when the Bobcats take on Ohio State. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET inside Value City Arena and can be seen on BIG+. Fans who still need to purchase tickets can do so here to ensure the Bobcats receive the proceeds of the purchase. 

The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield, presented by Holzer Health System. Jason Toy begins his second season on the mic for the Bobcats and will be joined by Dave Cecutti. WXTQ (Power 105) in Athens returns as the 11-station net- work's flagship and can be heard on the Varsity Network App. 

OHIO VS. OHIO STATE ALL-TIME
The Bobcats and Buckeyes have met 22 times in the regular season with the most recent meeting coming in 2013 in Columbus. 

Ohio State leads the all-time series 14-8.

A LITTLE ABOUT OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes are coming off a 17-15 campaign a year ago that saw them narrowly miss a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Senior guard Bruce Thornton returns as one of the best guards in the country. He is a two-time All-Big Ten honoree and was named to the preseason All-Big Ten Team this year. Thornton is currently 21st all-time in program history with 1,487 career points. He has led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio each of the last two seasons.

Junior Devin Royal and sophomore John Mobley Jr. also return giving the Buckeyes three of their top four scorers back from last season.

Transfer Christoph Tilly and Brandon Noel join the program from Santa Clara and Wright State, respectively, and will like round-out the starting five. The two have combined to play 183 games over the last three seasons.

Freshman Amare Bynum is an athletic forward that has had a great preseason and will be a player to watch this year.

A LITTLE ABOUT OHIO
Ohio was selected to finish fourth in this year's Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll, while senior guard Jackson Paveletzke and redshirt junior Javan Simmons earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Teams. 

Ohio finished last season 16-16 overall and 10-8 in MAC play, before falling to Toledo in an overtime thriller in the MAC Quarterfinals. 

The 2025-26 Bobcats return four major contributors from last year's team, including seniors Ajay Sheldon, Aidan Hadaway and Paveletzke and sophomore Elijah Elliott, while adding seven newcomers in transfers Simmons, Dior Conners, Jalen Breath and Carter Reese and freshman JJ Kelly, Jordan Fisher and Zay Mosley. 

Paveletzke started all 32 games for the Bobcats last year, averaging 13.8 points a game, while shooting .514 from the field and earning a spot on the All-MAC Third Team. He also earned a spot on the MAC Blue Ribbon Forecast Preseason All-MAC Team. Hadaway returns to the starting lineup after missing the last half of last season due to injury. Elliott looks to build on a stellar freshman season in which he worked his way into the starting lineup and averaging 5.1 points a game. 

Simmons comes to Ohio after spending three seasons at Toledo. In two seasons, Simmons started all 65 games he played in. Simmons averaged 12.4 points and 5.9 rebounds a game, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from three and 74.2 percent from the line. He was also the 2023-24 MAC Freshman of the Year, an All-MAC Honorable Mention in 2024-25 and is a two-time Academic All-MAC selection. Breath played three seasons at UNC Greensboro. The Oklahoma City native played in 87 games, while making 61 starts as a Spartan. On his career, Breath averaged 5.5 points and 5.4 rebounds a game, while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from the line. He also has 30 career blocks and 34 career steals. Conners played last season at App State where he saw action in 31 games, while making 26 starts. He averaged 8.0 points a game, while shooting 40.8 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three and 76.0 percent from the line. He added 1.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game, while snagging 13 steals. 

Kelly comes to Athens from Chambersburg, Pa. and played at Chambersburg Area. The guard was named 2025 PennLive Big 15 First Team, 2025 PennLive Big 15 All-Defensive Team, 2025 Mid Penn Commonwealth Conference First Team and 2025 All-State (Pennsylvania) Third Team. Kelly also averaged 21.8 PPG 7.1 RPG 2.6 APG during his senior season. Fisher, a Pickerington, Ohio native played at Reynoldsburg. Fisher became the all-time leader in career points in Reynoldsburg history with 1,306 points during his senior season. He was named 2025 All-Ohio First Team., 2025 Columbus Dispatch All-Metro First Team, 2025 All-Central District First Team and 2025 OCC First Team and Super Team. He helped lead Reynoldsburg to the 2025 Regional + District Championship (Division 1) and 2025 OCC Championship.

UP NEXT
Ohio opens the 2025-26 season on Monday, Nov. 3 when the Bobcats host Arkansas State in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. Season Tickets, Mini Plans and single game tickets are on sale here.

#OUohyeah