Ohio Men's Basketball Set to Open Season at JMU Monday Night - Ohio University

Men's Basketball 11/3/2024 10:00:00 AM

FOLLOW OHIO MEN'S BASKETBALL: Facebook | Twitter | InstagramATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio men's basketball team opens the 2024-25 season on Monday, Nov. 4 when the Bobcats head to Harrisonburg, Va. to take on James Madison in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside Atlantic Union Bank Center. The game can be seen on ESPN+. The Bobcats' matchup can also be heard on the Ohio Sports Network from Learfield, presented by Holzer Health System. Jason Toy begins his first season on the mic for the Bobcats, and will be joined by Ohio alum Rob Cornelius, who has been a part of the broadcasts for two decades. WXTQ (Power 105) in Athens returns as the 11-station network's flagship.

SCOUTING JAMES MADISONJames Madison begins their first season under new head coach Preston Spradlin who comes to Harrisonburg from Morehead State. The Dukes lost its top seven scorers from last season, bring in 11 transfers, while returning just one player who averaged over five minutes per game last year in junior guard Xavier Brown.

James Madison was selected to finish second in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll. JMU was voted second behind Arkansas State, who collected 12 first-place votes and 190 total points. The Dukes picked up one first-place vote and 170 total points, followed by Troy (155), Louisiana (144) and Southern Miss (133).

Meanwhile, Mark Freeman, last year's Ohio Valley Player of the Year, earned a spot on the Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt, while Brown earned a spot on the Third Team.

Last season, the Dukes went 32-4, winning the Sun Belt Championship and advancing to the Second Round of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship after defeating Wisconsin, before falling to Duke.

Last year's team averaged 83.2 points a game, while holding opponents to 69.6 a game. JMU shot .476 from the field, .360 from three and .703 from the line, while also averaging 38.6 rebounds a game. Last season's Dukes also averaged 16.0 assists and 9.0 steals per game, while forcing opponents to turn the ball over 14.4 times a game.

On the other end of the court, JMU opponents shot .416 from the field, .298 from three and .728 from the field, while grabbing 33.9 boards per game. Opponents also dished out an average of 10.7 assists per game, while averaging 5.9 steals and forced an average of 10.9 turnovers a game.

Individually, Brown returns from last year's team after averaging 6.3 points a game, while shooting .344 from the field, .339 from three and .654 from the line.

SCOUTING OHIOOhio begins their sixth season under head coach Jeff Boals. Ohio finished last season 20-13 after falling in the MAC Semis for the second-straight season.

The Bobcats were picked first in this year's MAC Preseason Poll. Earning 11 out of 12 first-place votes the secure the league title, while also collecting eight votes to win this year's tournament. Senior forward AJ Clayton earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC First Team and the MAC Blue Ribbon Forecast Preseason All-Conference Team. Graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell and redshirt sophomore guard AJ Brown both earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.

Ohio returns eight from last year's roster, including five who started at some point last year.

Ohio welcomes two transfers, junior guard Jackson Paveletzke from Iowa State and graduate student forward Vic Searls from Ashland. Ohio also welcomes five freshman to the roster.

Last year's Ohio squad averaged 77.3 points a game, while holding opponents to 70.0 points. Overall, Ohio shot .453 from the field, .356 from three and .730 from the line. Ohio also averaged 34.9 rebounds, 14.1 assists and 7.1 steals, while forcing 13.7 turnovers a game.

Opponents shot .425 from the field, .333 from three and .698 from the line. Opponents also averaged 36.3 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 5.0 steals, while forcing 9.7 turnovers a game.

Ohio returns 63 percent of their scoring from last season, including Mitchell, Clayton and Brown. Last season Mitchell averaged 13.3 points a game, while Clayton added 12.0 points, with Brown averaging 9.0 despite missing most of the season.

ALL TIME VS. JAMES MADISONThis is the first all-time meeting between the Bobcats and the Dukes.

OHIO IN SEASON OPENERSSince 2000, the Bobcats are 21-3 in season openers.

Under head coach Jeff Boals, Ohio is 4-1 in home openers, the only loss coming in 2022 when Belmont won on a buzzer beater.

ALL-MAC PRESEASON HONORSThe Ohio men's basketball team was selected to place first in the 2024-25 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the league announced on Oct. 22. Senior forward AJ Clayton was selected to the Preseason All-MAC First Team, while graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell and redshirt sophomore guard AJ Brown earned a spot on the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.

Ohio earned 121 points and 11 out of 12 first-place votes. The Bobcats also earned eight votes to win the 2025 MAC Tournament.

Selected to finish behind Ohio was Akron with 106 points and one first-place vote, followed by Kent State (99), Toledo (95), Bowling Green (73) and Miami (72) to round out the top six. Ball State (67), Central Michigan (55), Eastern Michigan (36), Western Michigan (33), Northern Illinois (24) and Buffalo (11) round out this year's poll.

Ohio was selected to win the tournament with eight votes, followed by Kent State (3) and Toledo (1).

BLUE RIBBON PRESEASON HONORSBlue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook announced they selected the Ohio men's basketball team to finish atop the Mid-American Conference in this year's MAC Blue Ribbon Forecast, while senior forward AJ Clayton was selected to the Preseason All-Conference team.

YEAR TWO OF THE MAC-SBC CHALLENGEThe second year of the MAC-Sun belt Challenge kicks off on opening night for all 12 league teams.

The second installment of a scheduling alliance in men's and women's basketball -- will tip off on Monday, Nov. 4 with 12 Mid-American Conference (MAC) women's basketball programs hosting 12 Sun Belt Conference (SBC) teams, while the 12 MAC men's basketball programs will visit 12 SBC teams.

The second MAC-SBC Challenge contest for each team will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, with the matchups based on real-time NET rankings and announced in January. The MAC men and Sun Belt women will host the February matchups.

Each MAC and Sun Belt team included in the MAC-SBC Challenge 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 is considered in determining the matchups.

BOALS LOOKING FOR 100 AT OUHead coach Jeff Boals enters his sixth season at Ohio just two wins away from 100 victories as the head coach of the Bobcats.

Boals would become the seventh Ohio head coach to make that mark and is 10 wins away from passing Danny Nee for the sixth-most wins at Ohio.

BOBCATS HEAD BACK TO MYRTLE BEACHFor this year's MTE, Ohio heads back to the Myrtle Beach Invite, where they last attended in 2019 on Jeff Boals' first season at Ohio.

The 2024 Myrtle Beach Invitational will be played November 21, 22 and 24 at the HTC Center on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C. All games will be presented across the ESPN platforms.

The field will feature three schools that participated in the 2024 National Invitational Tournament - Bradley (Missouri Valley), Princeton (Ivy), and South Florida(American Atlantic).

Middle Tennessee (Conference USA), Ohio (Mid-American), Portland (West Coast), Texas State (Sun Belt), and Wright State (Horizon League) will also be competing in the sixth annual event.

TOY NAMED 2024-25 MBB PXP BROADCASTERSeasoned television and radio broadcaster Jason Toy will be the play-by-play announcer for the 2024-25 Ohio men's basketball season.

In addition to his in-game responsibilities, Toy will host the weekly Jeff Boals Show this winter.

Since 1998, Toy has worked for the Motor Racing Network where he contributed to the national radio broadcast for NASCAR's Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series races and a play-by-play booth and turn announcer and has served as the lead pit reporter. He also hosts "NASCAR LIVE" weekly national radio talk show segment host.

In the college basketball realm, Toy has worked with Marshall as a radio and ESPN+ play-by-play, color and sideline reporter, while also hosting various live events.

UP NEXTThe Bobcats return to Athens for the home opener on Saturday, Nov. 9. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+.

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