# 2019–20 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Ohio University Bobcats men's basketball team represented Ohio University for the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats were led by first-year head coach Jeff Boals, who was a 1995 graduate of Ohio University. The team played their home games at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio as a member of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East division. As the No. 8 seed in the MAC tournament, they defeated Central Michigan in the first round before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2018–19 season 14–17, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East Division. As the No. 10 seed in the MAC tournament, they were defeated in the first round by Northern Illinois.
On March 13, 2019, head coach Saul Phillips was fired. He finished his five-year tenure at Ohio with an 81–77 overall record. Five days later, the school named Ohio alum Jeff Boals, head coach at Stony Brook, as their new head coach.

## Offseason
### Coaching Staff Changes
#### Coaching Departures

Coaching Departures :
| Name | Alma Mater | Previous position | New position |
| Saul Phillips | University of Wisconsin–Platteville | Head coach | Head coach (Northern State) |
| Will Ryan | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee | Assistant coach | Head coach (Wheeling Jesuit) |
| Jason Kemp | University of Wisconsin–La Crosse | Assistant coach | Assistant coach (William & Mary) |
| Jared Swanson | Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota) | Assistant coach | Assistant coach (Northern State) |

#### Coaching Additions

Coaching Additions :
| Name | Alma Mater | Previous position | New position |
| Jeff Boals | Ohio University | Head coach (Stony Brook) | Head coach |
| Steve Snell | | Assistant coach (Denver) | Assistant coach |
| Lamar Thornton | Ohio Dominican University | Assistant coach (Stony Brook) | Assistant coach |
| Kyle Barlow | Concordia University Ann Arbor | Assistant coach (Toledo) | Assistant coach |

### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Jason Carter | 1 | F | 6'8" | 220 | Junior | Johnstown, OH | Transferred to Xavier |
| James Gollon | 3 | G | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Stevens Point, WI | Medical |
| Teyvion Kirk | 4 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Junior | Joliet, IL | Transferred to Colorado State |
| Torey James | 11 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Soph. | Hickory, NC | Transferred to Cape Fear CC |
| Chris McGraw | 14 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Soph. | Columbus, OH | Transferred to Otterbien |
| Jarrell Reeves | 21 | F | 6'5" | 200 | Junior | Murfreesboro, TN | Left Team |
| Gavin Block | 22 | G/F | 6'7" | 212 | Senior | Lincoln, IL | Graduated |
| Antonio Cowart | 23 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | McComb, MS | Transferred to Mississippi College |
| Doug Taylor | 45 | F | 6'9" | 248 | Senior | Columbus, OH | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Sylvester Ogbonda | 11 | F | 6'10" | 237 | Senior | Port Harcourt, Nigeria | Transferred from Georgia Tech. Will have one year of eligibility remaining. |

### Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ben Roderick SF | Powell, OH | Olentangy Liberty | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 15, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ||||||
| Lunden McDay PG | Akron, OH | St. Vincent–St. Mary | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 1, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Nolan Foster C | Mattawan, MI | Mattawan | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Apr 27, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Miles Brown PG | Rochester, NY | Northstar Christian | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Apr 24, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Michael Brown, Jr.* PG | Rochester, NY | Northstar Christian | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 156 lb (71 kg) | Apr 24, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Marvin Price SF | Baltimore, MD | Patterson | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Apr 13, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||
* Walk-on in 2019-20

## Preseason

The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on October 31, 2019. Ohio was picked last in the MAC East.

### Preseason rankings
#### East Division

MAC East preseason poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Bowling Green | (9) 69 |
| 2 | Buffalo | (3) 58 |
| 3 | Kent State | 43 |
| 4 | Miami | 37 |
| 5 | Akron | 33 |
| 6 | Ohio | 12 |

#### West Division

MAC West preseason poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Toledo | (11) 69 |
| 2 | Northern Illinois | 52 |
| 3 | Ball State | (1) 51 |
| 4 | Central Michigan | 41 |
| 5 | Western Michigan | 23 |
| 6 | Eastern Michigan | 16 |
MAC Tournament Champions: Bowling Green (6), Toledo (2), Buffalo (1), Kent State (1), Miami (1), NIU (1)
Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2019 1:00 pm | | Capital | W 73–49 | | Convocation Center (6,104) Athens, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at St. Bonaventure | W 65–53 | 1–0 | Reilly Center (4,305) St. Bonaventure, NY |
| November 9, 2019* 1:00 pm | | Heidelberg | W 80–50 | 2–0 | Convocation Center (4,043) Athens, OH |
| November 13, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Iona | W 81–72 | 3–0 | Hynes Athletic Center (2,013) New Rochelle, NY |
| November 16, 2019* 12:00 pm, FS2 | | at No. 10 Villanova Myrtle Beach Invitational campus game | L 54–78 | 3–1 | Wells Fargo Center (13,678) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 21, 2019* 4:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 24 Baylor Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinal | L 53–76 | 3–2 | HTC Center (2,269) Conway, SC |
| November 22, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPNews | | vs. Utah Myrtle Beach Invitational consolation 2nd round | L 66–80 | 3–3 | HTC Center (1,921) Conway, SC |
| November 24, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPNews | | vs. Middle Tennessee Myrtle Beach Invitational 7th place game | W 75–63 | 4–3 | HTC Center (1,977) Conway, SC |
| November 30, 2019* 1:00 pm | | Detroit Mercy | W 91–81 | 5–3 | Convocation Center (3,030) Athens, OH |
| December 4, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Rio Grande | W 90–51 | 6–3 | Convocation Center (3,333) Athens, OH |
| December 8, 2019* 2:00 pm | | Tennessee Tech | W 81–54 | 7–3 | Convocation Center (3,402) Athens, OH |
| December 17, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Purdue | L 51–69 | 7–4 | Convocation Center (5,663) Athens, OH |
| December 21, 2019* 1:00 pm | | Morehead State | W 82–76 | 8–4 | Convocation Center (3,021) Athens, OH |
| December 29, 2019* 2:00 pm | | Campbell | L 55–63 | 8–5 | Convocation Center (3,305) Athens, OH |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| January 4, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | L 65–77 | 8–6 (0–1) | University Arena (2,683) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Michigan | W 74–68 | 9–6 (1–1) | Convocation Center (3,109) Athens, OH |
| January 11, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Bowling Green | L 74–83 | 9–7 (1–2) | Convocation Center (4,811) Athens, OH |
| January 14, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Buffalo | L 73–76 | 9–8 (1–3) | Alumni Arena (2,404) Amherst, NY |
| January 18, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | W 60–58 | 10–8 (2–3) | EMU Convocation Center (1,322) Ypsilanti, MI |
| January 21, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Toledo | L 74–83 | 10–9 (2–4) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| January 25, 2020 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Akron | L 86–88 | 10–10 (2–5) | Convocation Center (5,012) Athens, OH |
| January 28, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Illinois | L 59–61 | 10–11 (2–6) | NIU Convocation Center (783) DeKalb, IL |
| February 1, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 54–65 | 10–12 (2–7) | Worthen Arena (5,238) Muncie, IN |
| February 8, 2020 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | W 77–46 | 11–12 (3–7) | Convocation Center (6,534) Athens, OH |
| February 11, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Michigan | W 73–61 | 12–12 (4–7) | Convocation Center (4,372) Athens, OH |
| February 15, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kent State | L 72–87 | 12–13 (4–8) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (5,218) Kent, OH |
| February 18, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Central Michigan | W 77–69 | 13–13 (5–8) | Convocation Center (4,547) Athens, OH |
| February 22, 2020 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green | L 61–62 | 13–14 (5–9) | Stroh Center (3,795) Bowling Green, OH |
| February 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Buffalo | W 80–69 | 14–14 (6–9) | Convocation Center (4,837) Athens, OH |
| February 28, 2020 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Kent State | W 76-69 | 15–14 (7–9) | Convocation Center (5,490) Athens, OH |
| March 3, 2020 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Akron | L 67–74 | 15–15 (7–10) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,825) Akron, OH |
| March 6, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Miami (OH) | W 67–65 | 16–15 (8–10) | Millett Hall (2,289) Oxford, OH |
| MAC Tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | (9) Central Michigan First round | W 85–65 | 17–15 | Convocation Center (3,312) Athens, OH |
| March 12, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | (8) | vs. (1) Akron Quarterfinals | MAC Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | MAC Tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
All games from ohiobobcats.com.

## Statistics
### Team statistics

    Final 2019–20 statistics
| Record | Ohio | OPP |
| Scoring | 2286 | 2192 |
| Scoring Average | 71.44 | 68.50 |
| Field goals – Att | 822–1837 | 754–1802 |
| 3-pt. Field goals – Att | 272–781 | 239–727 |
| Free throws – Att | 370–537 | 445–570 |
| Rebounds | 1134 | 1076 |
| Assists | 471 | 354 |
| Turnovers | 406 | 405 |
| Steals | 205 | 199 |
| Blocked Shots | 73 | 76 |
Source

### Player statistics

| | | | Minutes | Minutes | Scoring | Scoring | Total FGs | Total FGs | Total FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | 3-point FGs | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Free-Throws | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | Rebounds | | | | | |
| Player | GP | GS | Tot | Avg | Pts | Avg | FG | FGA | Pct | 3FG | 3FA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | Avg | A | PF | TO | Stl | Blk |
| Jason Preston | 32 | 32 | 1218 | 38.1 | 538 | 16.8 | 203 | 394 | 0.515 | 37 | 91 | 0.407 | 95 | 131 | 0.725 | 23 | 183 | 206 | 6.4 | 238 | 37 | 118 | 46 | 3 |
| Ben Vander Plas | 31 | 31 | 1022 | 33 | 487 | 15.7 | 183 | 372 | 0.492 | 41 | 137 | 0.299 | 80 | 135 | 0.593 | 39 | 175 | 214 | 6.9 | 86 | 84 | 89 | 32 | 21 |
| Jordan Dartis | 29 | 29 | 909 | 31.3 | 375 | 12.9 | 118 | 300 | 0.393 | 83 | 218 | 0.381 | 56 | 67 | 0.836 | 11 | 56 | 67 | 2.3 | 36 | 45 | 26 | 32 | 3 |
| Lunden McDay | 31 | 29 | 884 | 28.5 | 253 | 8.2 | 90 | 193 | 0.466 | 27 | 70 | 0.386 | 46 | 64 | 0.719 | 50 | 39 | 89 | 2.9 | 28 | 67 | 30 | 25 | 6 |
| Sylvester Ogbonda | 32 | 32 | 799 | 25 | 213 | 6.7 | 76 | 159 | 0.478 | 10 | 32 | 0.313 | 51 | 70 | 0.729 | 67 | 142 | 209 | 6.5 | 26 | 115 | 48 | 25 | 24 |
| Ben Roderick | 23 | 5 | 443 | 19.3 | 137 | 6 | 48 | 133 | 0.361 | 36 | 98 | 0.367 | 5 | 8 | 0.625 | 15 | 38 | 53 | 2.3 | 6 | 42 | 14 | 11 | 2 |
| Nolan Foster | 29 | 0 | 257 | 8.9 | 71 | 2.4 | 28 | 59 | 0.475 | 2 | 5 | 0.4 | 13 | 26 | 0.5 | 13 | 32 | 45 | 1.6 | 4 | 41 | 16 | 1 | 7 |
| Nate Springs | 21 | 0 | 179 | 8.5 | 64 | 3 | 23 | 48 | 0.479 | 16 | 40 | 0.4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 1.3 | 3 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 3 |
| Mason McMurray | 18 | 1 | 219 | 12.2 | 51 | 2.8 | 20 | 57 | 0.351 | 11 | 39 | 0.282 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 2.3 | 10 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Connor Murrell | 14 | 0 | 144 | 10.3 | 31 | 2.2 | 11 | 42 | 0.262 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 0.643 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 2.2 | 11 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Miles Brown | 13 | 1 | 138 | 10.6 | 23 | 1.8 | 7 | 28 | 0.25 | 2 | 11 | 0.182 | 7 | 11 | 0.636 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| Marvin Price | 7 | 0 | 54 | 7.7 | 20 | 2.9 | 6 | 18 | 0.333 | 4 | 10 | 0.4 | 4 | 6 | 0.667 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.9 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Michael Brown | 13 | 0 | 114 | 8.8 | 18 | 1.4 | 7 | 25 | 0.28 | 2 | 11 | 0.182 | 2 | 3 | 0.667 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 0.9 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| John Tenerowicz | 4 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 1.3 | 2 | 9 | 0.222 | 1 | 4 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | - | 6400 | - | 2286 | 71.4 | 822 | 1837 | 0.447 | 272 | 781 | 0.348 | 370 | 537 | 0.689 | 299 | 835 | 1134 | 35.4 | 471 | 532 | 406 | 205 | 73 |
| Opponents | 32 | - | 6400 | - | 2192 | 68.5 | 754 | 1802 | 0.418 | 239 | 727 | 0.329 | 445 | 570 | 0.781 | 273 | 803 | 1076 | 33.6 | 354 | 572 | 405 | 199 | 76 |
Source

## Awards and honors
### Weekly Awards

Weekly Award Honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Date Awarded |
| MAC East player of the week | Jason Preston | G | November 18 |
| MAC East player of the week | Jordan Dartis | G | December 2 |
| MAC East player of the week | Jason Preston | G | December 9 |
| MAC East player of the week | Jason Preston | G | December 30 |
| MAC East player of the week | Jason Preston | G | February 10 |

### All-MAC Awards

Postseason All-MAC teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| All-MAC Second Team | Jason Preston | G | So. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Ben Vander Plas | F | RS-So. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Lunden McDay | G | Fr. |
Source