Led by freshman Ryan Taylor, Ohio won its season opener Saturday against Appalachian State.
Saul Phillips tried to recruit Ryan Taylor while he was still coaching at North Dakota State.
“I knew I wanted to coach Ryan for a long long time and he knew he didn’t want to come to Fargo,” Phillips said. “I became a much better recruiter when I moved to Athens.”
Phillips got the job at Ohio and Taylor, a freshman guard, followed him to become a Bobcat. Saturday, they made their Ohio debuts and Phillips was more than pleased with Taylor’s first collegiate game.
“(Taylor’s) some freshman who walked in like he owned the place,” Phillips said. “Poor Ryan was awfully bashful in his opening performance.”
Taylor finished with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists to pace Ohio in its season-opening 73-47 win over Appalachian State. He’s the first Bobcat to score 20 or more points in his first game since Ivo Baltic scored 20 in 2009.
Not only did Taylor lead Ohio’s offense, he also held the Mountaineers' Frank Eaves to just 2 of 12 shooting. Despite redshirt senior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis sitting out to serve an NCAA-mandated one-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned tournament this summer, Taylor said he didn’t have any jitters.
“I was just taking what they were giving me,” Taylor said. “I understand that doesn’t happen very often.”
Phillips had said prior to Saturday’s game that Taylor has the potential to score 20 or more points multiple times this season. Senior forward Maurice Ndour wasn’t surprised at all by the freshman’s debut performance.
“Ryan came out of the gate and dominated,” Ndour said. “We see him go off every time we practice.”
Ndour recorded a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds despite making just 3 of 11 field goal attempts.
Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell also finished in double digits with 13 points, but he fouled out late in the second half. The 6-foot-8, 260-pound forward scored five of his points in the game’s opening minutes, including a three-pointer.
Because Willis was out, the Bobcats went with longer rotations throughout the game and even had Taylor run the point — something he isn’t very used to doing.
“I knew that there would be more pressure on me, With Bean being out, it did build the pressure but I thought I handled it pretty well,” Taylor said.
The Bobcats never trailed and entered halftime up eight points, before going on an 18-0 run over seven minutes in the second half to coast toward their first win of the season.
Taylor didn’t have a turnover and played a team-high 36 minutes. After the game he softly and briefly spoke to the media about his game.
Although Taylor didn’t talk much about himself, his often-outspoken coach is known for it and talked for him.
“He’s a calm kid, always has been,” Phillips said. “He doesn’t realize what he just did — doesn’t need to — and you know what, I’m not going to tell him.”
@chadlindskog
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