# 2008–09 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team represented Ohio University in the college basketball season of 2008–09. The team was coached by John Groce in his first season and played their home games at the Convocation Center. They finished the season 15–17 and 7–9 in MAC play to finish last in the MAC East.

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | College | Graduating year |
| John Groce | Head coach | Taylor University | 1994 |
| Chris Holtmann | Assistant coach | Taylor University | 1994 |
| Jamall Walker | Assistant coach | Saint Louis University | 2000 |
| Dustin Ford | Assistant coach | Ohio University | 2001 |
| Chris Cobbina | Graduate Manager | Ohio Valley University | 2006 |
| Daniel Leeworthy | Graduate Manager | BYU Hawaii | 2006 |
| Aaron Fuss | Administrative Assistant | Ohio State University | 2005 |

## Preseason

The preseason poll was announced by the league office on October 30, 2008. Ohio was picked fifth in the MAC East

### Preseason men's basketball poll

(First place votes in parentheses)

#### East Division

* Kent State (16) 124
* Miami (6) 109
* Bowling Green 70
* Akron 67
* Ohio
* Buffalo 35

#### West Division

* Western Michigan (15) 122
* Eastern Michigan (7) 105
* Central Michigan 79
* Toledo 71
* Ball State 55
* Northern Illinois 39

#### Tournament champs

Kent State (11), Miami (7), Bowling Green (2), Eastern Michigan (2)

### Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| Preseason All-MAC East | Jerome Tillman | F | Sr. |
Source

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/1/08* 2:00 pm | Wooster Exhibition | W 79–65 | | Convocation Center (2,249) Athens, OH |
| 11/9/08* 2:00 pm | Mercyhurst Exhibition | W 79–52 | | Convocation Center (2,413) Athens, OH |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/16/08* 2:00 pm | William & Mary | W 74–55 | 1–0 | Convocation Center (3,846) Athens, OH |
| 11/22/08* 7:00 pm | at Austin Peay | W 79–69 | 2–0 | Dave Aaron Arena (3,317) Clarksville, TN |
| 11/29/08* 4:00 pm | at George Mason | L 65–74 | 2–1 | Patriot Center (5,159) Fairfax, VA |
| 12/3/08* 7:00 pm | Tulsa | W 75–63 | 3–1 | Convocation Center (4,833) Athens, OH |
| 12/6/08* 4:30 pm | vs. Lamar Marques Maybin Classic | L 67–76 | 3–2 | Freedom Hall (18,924) Louisville, KY |
| 12/7/08* 4:00 pm, ESPN Full Court | at No. 11 Louisville Marques Maybin Classic | L 56–91 | 3–3 | Freedom Hall (19,083) Louisville, KY |
| 12/8/08* 4:30 pm | vs. Indiana State Marques Maybin Classic | W 62–50 | 4–3 | Freedom Hall (19,058) Louisville, KY |
| 12/10/08* 7:30 pm, FSNO | at No. 10 Xavier | L 56–78 | 4–4 | Cintas Center (10,043) Cincinnati, OH |
| 12/13/08* 2:00 pm | at Delaware | L 66–75 | 4–5 | Bob Carpenter Center (2,652) Newark, DE |
| 12/17/08* 7:00 pm | at Marshall | L 68–73 | 4–6 | Cam Henderson Center (5,019) Huntington, WV |
| 12/22/08* 7:00 pm | Holy Cross | W 58–53 | 5–6 | Convocation Center (3,024) Athens, OH |
| 12/30/08* 7:00 pm | St. Francis (NY) | W 70–53 | 6–6 | Convocation Center (2,928) Athens, OH |
| 1/3/09* 2:00 pm | Bucknell | W 85–67 | 7–6 | Convocation Center (3,318) Athens, OH |
| 1/11/09 2:00 pm | Kent State | W 71–65 | 8–6 (1–0) | Convocation Center (7,118) Athens, OH |
| 1/14/09 7:00 pm | at Miami (OH) | W 66–62 | 9–6 (2–0) | Millett Hall (2,385) Oxford, OH |
| 1/17/09 4:00 pm | at Buffalo | L 66–70 | 9–7 (2–1) | Alumni Arena (2,741) Buffalo, NY |
| 1/20/09 7:00 pm | Akron | W 70–65 $^{OT}$ | 10–7 (3–1) | Convocation Center (4,208) Athens, OH |
| 1/24/09 2:30 pm | Bowling Green | L 51–52 | 10–8 (3–2) | Convocation Center (10,988) Athens, OH |
| 1/29/09 7:00 pm | at Central Michigan | L 69–76 | 10–9 (3–3) | Rose Arena (417) Mt. Pleasant, MI |
| 1/31/09 2:00 pm | at Ball State | L 44–51 | 10–10 (3–4) | Worthen Arena (3,524) Muncie, IN |
| 2/5/09 7:00 pm | Northern Illinois | W 89–59 | 11–10 (4–4) | Convocation Center (3,016) Athens, OH |
| 2/7/09 5:00 pm | Eastern Michigan | W 57–45 | 12–10 (5–4) | Convocation Center (5,735) Athens, OH |
| 2/11/09 7:00 pm | at Western Michigan | L 62–76 | 12–11 (5–5) | University Arena (2,758) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 2/14/09 7:00 pm | Toledo | W 91–58 | 13–11 (6–5) | Convocation Center (4,298) Athens, OH |
| 2/17/09 7:30 pm, FSNO | at Kent State | L 51–64 | 13–12 (6–6) | MAC Center (2,987) Kent, OH |
| 2/21/09* 7:00 pm | at Eastern Kentucky | L 51–73 | 13–13 (6–6) | McBrayer Arena (2,700) Richmond, KY |
| 2/26/09 7:00 pm | Miami (OH) | W 75–56 | 14–13 (7–6) | Convocation Center (7,231) Athens, OH |
| 3/1/09 12:00 pm, ESPNU | Buffalo | L 66–68 | 14–14 (7–7) | Convocation Center (4,669) Athens, OH |
| 3/5/09 7:00 pm | at Akron | L 51–60 | 14–15 (7–8) | Rhodes Arena (3,370) Akron, OH |
| 3/8/09 2:00 pm, BCSN | at Bowling Green | L 41–75 | 14–16 (7–9) | Anderson Arena (2,296) Bowling Green, OH |
| MAC Tournament ||||||
| 3/10/09 4:00 pm | vs. Western Michigan First Round | W 62–55 | 15–16 | Quicken Loans Arena (5,637) Cleveland, OH |
| 3/12/09 7:00 pm | vs. Bowling Green Quarterfinals | L 61–74 | 15–17 | Quicken Loans Arena (6,407) Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-Conference Game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Time Zone. ||||||

## Statistics
### Team statistics

    Final 2008–09 statistics
| Record | Ohio | OPP |
| Scoring | 2075 | 2080 |
| Scoring Average | 64.84 | 65.00 |
| Field goals – Att | 709–1634 | 714–1620 |
| 3-pt. Field goals – Att | 208–573 | 212–628 |
| Free throws – Att | 449–639 | – |
| Rebounds | 990 | 1060 |
| Assists | 436 | |
| Turnovers | 459 | 483 |
| Steals | 222 | |
| Blocked Shots | 59 | |
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 |
| Jerome Tillman | 32 | 32 | 1047 | 32.7 | 566 | 17.7 | 183 | 361 | 0.507 | 27 | 82 | 0.329 | 173 | 235 | 0.736 | 84 | 174 | 258 | 8.1 | 38 | 93 | 74 | 35 | 16 |
| Justin Orr | 32 | 23 | 900 | 28.1 | 327 | 10.2 | 121 | 304 | 0.398 | 55 | 150 | 0.367 | 30 | 40 | 0.75 | 31 | 85 | 116 | 3.6 | 49 | 63 | 49 | 26 | 10 |
| Steven Coleman | 32 | 17 | 858 | 26.8 | 313 | 9.8 | 112 | 238 | 0.471 | 37 | 107 | 0.346 | 52 | 79 | 0.658 | 30 | 73 | 103 | 3.2 | 80 | 79 | 84 | 53 | 6 |
| Tommy Freeman | 32 | 24 | 845 | 26.4 | 238 | 7.4 | 69 | 168 | 0.411 | 54 | 127 | 0.425 | 46 | 57 | 0.807 | 14 | 48 | 62 | 1.9 | 41 | 79 | 33 | 12 | 3 |
| Michael Allen | 32 | 32 | 961 | 30 | 221 | 6.9 | 69 | 193 | 0.358 | 25 | 69 | 0.362 | 58 | 82 | 0.707 | 10 | 57 | 67 | 2.1 | 138 | 82 | 61 | 46 | 1 |
| DeVaughn Washington | 32 | 15 | 722 | 22.6 | 215 | 6.7 | 83 | 178 | 0.466 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 75 | 0.653 | 43 | 99 | 142 | 4.4 | 19 | 103 | 67 | 26 | 13 |
| Kenneth van Kempen | 32 | 14 | 495 | 15.5 | 103 | 3.2 | 43 | 105 | 0.41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 25 | 0.68 | 19 | 58 | 77 | 2.4 | 19 | 82 | 47 | 8 | 9 |
| Frankie Dobbs | 32 | 0 | 434 | 13.6 | 60 | 1.9 | 16 | 54 | 0.296 | 6 | 22 | 0.273 | 22 | 34 | 0.647 | 5 | 33 | 38 | 1.2 | 49 | 31 | 30 | 13 | 1 |
| Stacey Waters | 14 | 0 | 43 | 3.1 | 18 | 1.3 | 6 | 21 | 0.286 | 4 | 14 | 0.286 | 2 | 3 | 0.667 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Adetunji Adedipe | 24 | 3 | 101 | 4.2 | 12 | 0.5 | 6 | 10 | 0.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 1.1 | 2 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Zach Nagtzaam | 10 | 0 | 19 | 1.9 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 32 | - | 6425 | - | 2075 | 64.8 | 709 | 1634 | 0.434 | 208 | 573 | 0.363 | 449 | 639 | 0.703 | 297 | 693 | 990 | 30.9 | 436 | 645 | 459 | 222 | 59 |
| Opponents | 32 | - | 6425 | - | 2080 | 65.0 | 714 | 1620 | 0.441 | 212 | 628 | 0.338 | | | - | | | 1060 | 33.1 | | | 483 | | |
Source

## Awards and honors
### All-MAC Awards

Postseason All-MAC teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| All-MAC First team | Jerome Tillman | F | Sr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Mike Allen | G | Sr. |
Source