After beginning its season against a triad of schools that competed in Division I postseason tournaments last year, Ohio will host Division III Heidelberg on Saturday.
Heidelberg (1-1) is the second game of the Ohio Classic, which is a four-game tournament in The Convo that also features Mercer, Evansville and Valparaiso.
The Bobcats won their first game of the tournament against the Crusaders 76-72 last Sunday.
The last time Ohio (3-1) played a regular season contest against a non-Division I opponent was in December 2011, when it defeated Marietta College 88-54.
The Bobcats and Student Princes have not met since the 1984-85 campaign when Ohio won 77-70, but the teams took the court against each other six times from 1912-22.
Coach Jim Christian said playing outside one’s division is not uncommon to see in college basketball.
“Everybody has different opinions on those non-Division I (games),” Christian said. “If you took every mid-major program, high mid–major program — Gonzaga, Butler — they all play non-Division I (schools). I don’t know why people make a big deal out of it.”
Heidelberg is coming off a 63-56 loss against Mount Saint Joseph. Through two games, the Student Princes have averaged 64 points per game and have made 35 percent of their shots off their field. They also average 41 rebounds and 15 assists per game.
Junior guard Marcquice Taylor is averaging 12 points per game for Heidelberg, while sophomore forward Jackson Blue is another scoring option, averaging more than 10 points per game.
Despite leading the Bobcats to a 65-62 victory on Wednesday against Morgan State with a game-winning three-point play, Ohio junior guard Stevie Taylor said fouls hindered the Bobcats.
“Sometimes you have to win ugly,” Taylor said. “This was definitely an ugly win but now we can learn from it versus learning from a loss. We’re 3-1. We’ve got to shore up some things this week in practice and we have a big game on Saturday.”
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This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Student Princes come to clash with Bobcats."
