Ohio will play its first neutral site game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Thursday when it tips off against No. 24 Baylor at the HTC Center.
The Bobcats will play three games in four days for the tournament, which began for Ohio on Saturday when it lost 78-54 to Villanova inside Wells Fargo Center.
The tournament also features Utah, Coastal Carolina, Tulane, Mississippi State and Middle Tennessee.
The Bobcats will start against the Bears. Here’s a scouting report and how to watch:
The game
Tipoff: 4:30 p.m.
How to watch: ESPN2
How to listen: Ohio IMG Sports Network
The opposition
Baylor has started its season 2-1 with wins against Texas State and Central Arkansas and a loss against Washington.
Last season, the Bears advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament after originally falling to Iowa State in the first round of the Big 12 Championship.
Baylor returns three of its top five starters from last season in Tristan Clark, Mark Vital and Jared Butler, who leads the Bears thus far with 21 points per game.
Redshirt senior Freddie Gillespie is the team leader with 9.3 rebounds per game. Butler is the Bears’ go-to 3-point shooter and has shot 56% (14-for-25) beyond the arc.
Coach Scott Drew has spread minutes to his bench players, too. Baylor currently has seven players averaging over 20 minutes per game. Ohio, however, has only five players averaging over 20 minutes of playing time, and four of those players have averaged over 30 minutes per game.
Things to watch from Ohio
Coach Jeff Boals might space out playing time to bench players for the first time in a game this season.
Jason Preston, Jordan Dartis, Ben Vander Plas and Lunden McDay have all averaged over 30 minutes per game. With three games in four days, Boals could give longer looks to Nolan Foster, Mason McMurray or Marvin Price, who returned Nov. 9 from an injury that sidelined him from practice for three months.
The Bobcats are still dealing with injuries to top freshman recruit Ben Roderick and Connor Murrell.
“The games will dictate how minutes go,“ Boals said. “Obviously, three games in four days isn’t ideal for the roster we have now. We’ll play it by ear and see and feel the flow of the game.”
Depending on their result Thursday, the Bobcats will play either Utah or Coastal Carolina on Friday. The tip off time has yet to announced.
