David had better odds to beat Goliath than Ohio does against No. 4 Louisville, but that won’t stop the Bobcats from rolling into the River City on Thursday.
Although Ohio (2-0) is off to its best start to a season since the 2006-07 campaign, Louisville (4-0) was the runner up in the NCAA Championship game last season and will be the Bobcats’ first nationally ranked opponent since No. 18 Florida in January 2009.
First-year coach Bob Boldon did not schedule Thursday’s matchup, as he inherited it from the previous coaching staff, but is excited for the opportunity.
“We haven’t really talked about Louisville that much to this point,” Boldon said. “This week has just been about trying to get better. We happen to play the No. 4 team in the country, but that has no bearing on how we’ll be playing.”
The Bobcats have the fourth-best RPI ranking in the NCAA, which is one spot higher than the Cardinals’ ranking, but because Louisville is averaging 96 points per game, Boldon wants his team to play well on both sides of the court.
“If you look at Xavier, we did so many things wrong defensively we were able to correct at Morehead [State],” Boldon said. “And then at Morehead, we were so bad offensively that we need to try and correct the turnover problem. We’ve got to be more crisp at what we do.”
So far this season, the Cardinals have been explosive offensively, as six players are averaging at least 10 points per game and Louisville is outscoring its opposition by almost 23 points per game.
Forwards Asia Taylor, a redshirt senior, and Sara Hammond, a junior, have been dominant in the paint, and each are averaging 14 points and eight rebounds per game.
Ohio has three players averaging double-digit points this year: sophomore guard Kiyanna Black (21.5), sophomore forward Lexie Baldwin (14.5) and junior guard Mariah Byard (14.0).
“I’m ready for (Louisville),” Baldwin said. “I just have to play my game. It’s not really what I can do against them; it’s what do I have to do against them.”
Regardless of the outcome, Boldon said this season’s nonconference schedule will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for the players, as Ohio also plays No. 8 Maryland on Nov. 30 at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
“I don’t know how many times you get to play two top-10 teams within 10 days of each other, so it’s fairly unique in that regard.”
Ohio and Louisville have met just one time before, when the Bobcats lost 84-47 in 2010.
gh181212@ohiou.edu
@charliehatch_
