Coach Tim O'Shea said he has been pleased by the effort from his depleted bench despite its recent offensive struggles.
On the season, the Bobcats bench players are averaging 7.7 points per game. Since point guard Antonio Chatman left the team Jan. 11, the Bobcats' reserves, which has predominantly been guard Stephen King and forward Kenneth van Kempen, have averaged 2 points in the last five games. In two of those games, Ohio's bench has failed to score any points.
Although he has struggled at the scoring end, O'Shea said he's seen continuous improvement from freshman van Kempen in other areas.
Defensively
he's been outstanding O'Shea said. Rebounding he's been a lot better too. The scoring will come.
After a strong start to the season, King has struggled at the offensive end recently as well. An outside threat, King has failed to register any points in the last four games.
Steve's had some very good games for us this season O'Shea said. Hopefully once he gets back in The Convo his shots will start to fall.
O'Shea added that he hopes to give reserve forwards Asown Sayles and Matt Annen more playing time, but will wait for an opportune moment.
It's hard on the road when you're playing from behind and you're trying to get your best scorers out there
O'Shea said. I'd like to get them more involved
but we'll see how it plays out. Williams reaches milestone
With his final points of the game, Leon Williams became the 29th player in Ohio history to score 1,000 point in his career Sunday.
The junior forward reached the mark when he hit a jump shot in the paint with 4:13 remaining in the second half of Sunday's loss at Ball State.
If Williams' points per game average (14.4) holds steady, he will crack into the Top 20 on the Bobcats' all-time scoring list by the end of the regular season.BracketBuster announced
The Bobcats will travel to Las Cruces, N.M., Feb. 17 to take on New Mexico State in their ESPN BracketBusters game.
The two-day field, which consists of 14 games, is arranged by ESPN, and some of the games are selected to be on television. The channel where Ohio's game will be televised is not official, but could be on ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN360. Game time is yet to be determined.
Ohio has won its last two BracketBuster games.
Wide receiver added to practice squad
Freshman wide receiver Robert Mercer has joined the Bobcats' practice squad. He is the third player added to the group since Chatman left the team.
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Andrew Gribble
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Ohio's Sonny Troutman had five assists during the Bobcats' 67-61 win over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. Troutman is one of five Ohio starters averaging more than 10 points per game.
