The Ohio men's basketball team will face some Ivy League competition as it takes on Yale Sunday in The Convo.
Fresh off an 83-66 win over Marist, the Bobcats (1-0) will play their second game before Thanksgiving this season when the Bulldogs come to town. Coach Tim O'Shea said the early season games are a new way to get students pumped for basketball when they come back from winter break.
I hope we get good student support because that is why we scheduled the game for two days before break
O'Shea said. It is so we can get students energized about basketball so when they come back in January they are fired up.
For the players, the earlier start of the season and couple of games before the end of fall quarter gets them playing better sooner.
Guard Whitney Davis said the second game before winter break will help the team get into a better groove in December.
It is a lot better to play before Thanksgiving usually we are one of the last teams to play in the whole country Davis said. It was kind of boring at times to wait until all the other teams have started playing; we just want to get into games and compete against other people.
Yale (1-0) is coming off an opening 98-55 victory on the road against Allegheny and returns four starters from last season's squad that went 15-14. This year the Bulldogs are picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League preseason poll.
Though the Bulldogs' home in New Haven, Conn., may be recognized as a top academic institution, O'Shea is excited to bring Yale to Athens for an important non-conference game.
Yale should pose a very good challenge for us; they are fundamentally sound and not surprisingly
a smart team
O'Shea said. I like the game because it is always nice when we can associate our university with a university as prestigious and well-known as Yale; it is great to be able to bring a nationally renowned university to this campus for a high-profile athletic event.
Forward Jerome Tillman, who is coming off his first career double-double against Marist, won't let Yale's reputation for scholastic success be a reason to overlook the Bulldogs.
It is a big game because academically they pride themselves at being one of the best in the country so I am sure they take the same attitude on the floor
Tillman said. We are preparing to be ready for whatever they bring at us.
This game will be the last for the Bobcats with a nine-man rotation as guard Bubba Walther and forward Johnnie Jackson will return for the Samford game on Nov. 28.
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