Kentucky basketball: Five things to know about the Ohio Bobcats
Five things to know about Kentucky basketball’s Friday night opponent, the Ohio Bobcats:
1. The Bobcats are 3-0
Ohio opened the year with a 92-80 win over Belmont on Nov. 9. It followed that with a 67-56 victory at Cleveland State on Nov. 13. In its first game in the round-robin Kentucky Classic, the Bobcats defeated Robert Morris 85-71 on Monday. After playing Kentucky, Ohio will complete the Kentucky Classic by playing host to Mount St. Mary’s on Nov. 22.
Heading into Thursday night’s games, Ken Pomeroy ranked Ohio No. 97 in overall efficiency. The Bobcats ranked 65th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 141st in adjusted defensive efficiency.
2. The Bobcats upset Virginia in last season’s NCAA Tournament
After capturing the Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed with an 84-69 win over Buffalo, No. 13 seed Ohio shocked No. 4 Virginia 62-58 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ben Vander Plas scored 17 points to help knock off the defending national champions. Guard Jason Preston, who has since graduated, grabbed 13 rebounds in the win.
Ironically, Vander Plas’ father, Dean, played college basketball with Virginia Coach Tony Bennett. In fact, Vander Plas was named after the Cavaliers’ coach. Dean Vander Plas coached high school basketball in Wisconsin before stepping down to follow his son’s career.
The Bobcats lost 72-58 to No. 5 seed Creighton in the second round to finish the season 17-8 overall.
3. Ohio Coach Jeff Boals played against UK
The 49-year-old Boals is an Ohio grad who was an assistant at Ohio State under Thad Matta. Boals was Matta’s aide when No. 1 seed Ohio State lost to No. 4 seed Kentucky in the East Region semifinals during the Wildcats’ run to the 2011 Final Four. Boals left Columbus to take the head coaching job at Stony Brook in 2016, replacing Steve Pikiell, who had departed for Rutgers. Under Pikiell, Stony Brook lost 85-57 to Kentucky in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Boals went 55-42 as coach of the Seawolves, including a 24-9 record in 2018-19 before returning to his alma mater as head coach. That team upset South Carolina 83-81 in Columbia.
The Bobcats went 17-15 overall and 8-10 in the MAC during his first season. Last season, Ohio won nine of its last 10 games to reach the NCAA Tournament. Last season, Boals was one of the first coaches to announce that he was giving his team the day off so they could vote on Election Day Nov. 3, 2020.
Boals played on Larry Hunter’s Ohio teams that lost to Rick Pitino and Kentucky 73-63 in Cincinnati on Dec. 23, 1991, and 79-74 at Rupp Arena on Nov. 30, 1994. Boals played 15 minutes in the latter game, scoring five points, but also turning the ball over six times.
Hunter passed away in 2018 at age 68. He went 702-453 as a college head coach at Wittenberg (1976-89), Ohio (1990-2001) and Western Carolina (2005-18).
4. The Bobcats love to shoot three-pointers
Through its first three games, Ohio has taken 94 three-point shots, hitting 36 for a three-point field goal percentage of 38.4. That ranked 68th in the nation heading into Thursday night’s play.
Vander Plas has been the team’s most effective three-point shooter, going 8-of-20 for 40 percent behind the stripe. He’s a 6-foot-8 forward from Ripon, Wis. Ben Roderick has also tried 20 threes, though he has made just five for 25 percent. Roderick is a 6-5 forward from Powell, Ohio. Jason Carter and Miles Brown are each 4-of-12 from three-point land. Carter is a 6-8 forward from Johnstown, Ohio. Brown is a 5-10 guard from Rochester, New York.
Ohio was 16-of-37 from three-point range in the win over Belmont. It went 12-of-31 from beyond the arc against Cleveland State and 8-of-26 against Robert Morris.
5. Mark Sears is Ohio’s leading scorer
Sears is a 6-1 guard from Muscle Shoals, Ala., who played at Hargrave Military Academy, helping his team to the final four of the Prep National Championship with a 37-4 record.
As a freshman, Sears averaged 8.5 points per game. But this year, Sears is averaging 19.3 after three games. He has made 22 of 34 shots for 64.7 percent. He’s also 6-of-8 from three-point range for 75 percent. He scored 27 points in the team’s win over Belmont, 15 against Cleveland State and 16 in the win over Robert Morris.
Carter and Vander Plas lead the team in rebounding with each averaging 8.7 per game. Each grabbed 11 boards in the win over Robert Morris.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
