Through the first four games of the season, Ohio (1-3 overall) has faced some elite-level competition to start the year. The non-conference slate has been very tough, with the Bobcats facing great mid-major teams like Arkansas State and Illinois State, while facing some serious NCAA tournament contenders such as Saint Mary’s and No. 6 Louisville.
Ohio is coming off the back end of two games against Saint Mary’s and Louisville, losing both, but showing real fight and offensive ability in the loss to Louisville. It scored 81 points against a top 10 team.
The Bobcats return home this week to face off against another tough opponent, Bethune-Cookman, an HBCU from the Southwest Athletic Conference. Though teams from the SWAC are typically near the bottom of the NET rankings in college basketball, Bethune-Cookman is not a typical SWAC team.
The Wildcats were picked to finish first in the SWAC, and they have backed that up this year, taking No. 20 Auburn to overtime before falling by a score of 95-90 in the first game of the season.
They followed that game up with a trip to Dayton. It was another game where they battled a very solid team, losing by nine after scoring 82 points against the Flyers.
Now, they travel to Athens, so let’s take a look at Bethune-Cookman.
Game Information
Opponent: Bethune-Cookman
Location: The Convo
Time: Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Where to watch: ESPN+
Follow live stats here
Meet the Opponent:
Head coach: Dustin Kerns (sixth season)
Projected Starters:
#01 Arterio Morris
#00 Jakobi Heady
#05 Quentin Heady
#11 Jordan Johnson
#23 Daniel Rouzan
Statistical leaders:
Points: Morris (16 per game)
Assists: Morris, Seneca Willoughby (3.8 per game)
Rebounds: Morris (6.3 per game)
FG%: Ariel Bland (69.2%)
3-point percentage: J. Heady (53.8%)
Bethune-Cookman player to watch: Arterio Morris
One of the best HBCU’s in recent memory is headlined by Morris, a redshirt junior guard from Dallas.
Morris has bounced around in his college career, first starting at Texas, where he was a real contributor as a freshman, putting up 4.1 points per game on over 40% shooting off the bench for the Longhorns.
He did not play in the 2023-24 season as a sophomore, but he transferred to South Plains Junior College as a redshirt sophomore last year. He did well at the JUCO level, scoring 11.9 points per game while also averaging 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists en route to becoming the third-ranked JUCO player in the nation.
Now with Bethune-Cookman, he has again found his groove, scoring a team-high 16 points per game while leading the Wildcats to a very successful start to the season.
He made a true statement in his game as a Wildcat in the thriller against Auburn, scoring 21 points off the bench despite playing 37 minutes to nearly pull off a shocking upset against a top-25 team. He also added 10 rebounds and shot 3-5 from three against the Tigers.
