Ohio is back in business.
The Bobcats defeated Capital 92-66 in an exhibition game Saturday afternoon in The Convo ahead of their regular season opener. Four Bobcats scored in double-digits and all but two players on the roster received time on the court.
Coach Jeff Boals was impressed by Ohio's performance Saturday, but still believes there is plenty to clean up before it begins its regular season schedule.
“I liked the first half and our energy level,“ Boals said. “I thought in the second half it waned a little bit, which I was kind of expecting ... I told the guys after the game, ‘Exhibition season’s over, and we’ve got to be a lot better on Tuesday night.”
Here’s a a few key takeaways from the Bobcats’ win over the Comets:
Schmock showcase
Much of Ohio’s focus during the offseason was directed toward recruiting, but it also managed to snag a few transfers as well. The most notable was Jason Carter, who returned to Athens after spending the past two seasons at Xavier. Ohio also secured Tommy Schmock, who transferred from Division II program Findlay in July.
Schmock didn’t take a back seat in his debut with the Bobcats. In fact, he led the offense with 17 points in just 17 minutes on the floor. The senior was seven-of-nine from the field and concluded his first half of work with three layups in just over two minutes.
"I thought our offense was clicking for the first half," Schmock said. "I was getting good ball screens, good rolls, guys lifting. It really opened the floor. But it's just good to see some buckets go in."
Schmock, standing at 5 feet 11 inches tall and 180 pounds, is one of the smallest players for the Bobcats this season. But size hasn’t stopped him before. The senior averaged 10.9 points per game last season with the Oilers and is the program’s all-time leader in assists.
Boals expressed confidence in Schmock’s ability to mesh with Ohio’s offense, and Schmock’s performance Saturday might give credence to that confidence.
No Dwight Wilson
Wilson, dressed in a white Ohio polo and black pants, was absent from the court Saturday and was instead relegated to the sideline during the exhibition. Wilson has been dealing with a knee injury and underwent surgery in May. Boals said that Wilson is nowhere near ready to see time on the court, but elaborated that the forward’s recovery is progressing well.
“We’ll take it slow with him,“ Boals said. “I don’t think we’ll rush him back. He’s been doing a lot of skill work, shooting.”
Without Wilson, Ohio will be missing a vital part of its offense from last season. The forward led the team in rebounds with 6.7 per game and averaged 14.4 points per game, the second-highest on the team. The fifth year was the go-to man in the paint, and his presence will be missed until he is cleared to return.
Scoring in the paint
With Wilson sidelined due to injury, Ohio is entering the season without its biggest close-range threat on offense. Ohio seems to have adapted to this, however. It scored 54 points in the paint Saturday, and it was 20-for-29 on layups.
Boals said that Ohio has been tweaking its offense to work more closely in the paint. The coach wants to boost Ohio’s points per possession and believes increasing the amount of ball reversals and paint touches will aid the offense up-close.
“One thing we talked about ad nauseam is paint touches, post touches and ball reversals,“ Boals said. “It's amazing when you have zero ball reversals what your points per possession is to one ball reversal to two-plus. Same thing with paint touches, post touches ... So that's something we really want to emphasize.”
