The 2013-2014 basketball season is nigh upon us. Like soon; in fact this Sunday, to be exact. After “scrimmaging” the Walsh University Cavaliers (winning 93-63), the #11 Buckeyes host the Morgan State University Bears this coming Saturday with a noon tip-off at The Schott. The pre-conference schedule starts; now it gets serious.
Here’s the scoop on Morgan State University.
School: Morgan State University
Location: Baltimore, MD
Founded: 1867
Student Population: 6,000
School Type: Public, co-ed
Division: FCS
Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC)
Arena: Hill Field House
Seating: 4,250
Built:
Head Coach: Todd Bozeman
Year: 8th
Morgan State
Coach Bozeman
Morgan State is coming off a 2013 season with a record of 17-15 (10-6 MEAC). Despite the so-so record, the Bears did get to the MEAC Tournament final, losing to NC A&M 54-57. Despite just coming up short in the championship game, Morgan State did end the season winning 8 of 9 games, so Coach Bozeman did have his team playing very good ball leading into the MEAC tourney.
The Bears are pre-season picks to finish 2nd in the MEAC, which makes sense considering their strong finish to last season. Coach Bozeman will have to juggle his rotation a bit this season because junior forward 6’9” Shaquille Duncan (25 min/game, 7 PPG, 4 RPG) has been indefinitely suspended for violation of team rules. This is a team that averaged 67 PPG last season, but gave up 65 PPG. However, during their end of season streak, they averaged 70 ppg and broke 80 points four times, so they did appear to get the offense going as the season wound down.
For your viewing/listening pleasure, here is the Morgan State roster:
|
FG% |
3PT% |
FT% |
R/G |
A/G |
PPG |
||
|
1 |
Rian Burrell |
48.3% |
38.1% |
75.3% |
3.9 |
1.8 |
13.2 |
|
10 |
Jeff Copeland |
51.7% |
30.8% |
68.7% |
5.2 |
1.7 |
10.8 |
|
22 |
Jesse Hardin |
43.7% |
37.1% |
78.9% |
3.1 |
1.7 |
8.7 |
|
3 |
Davonte Beard |
36.8% |
24.0% |
73.3% |
2.7 |
2.8 |
8.5 |
|
11 |
Brad DuPont |
43.7% |
27.3% |
65.8% |
3.2 |
3.8 |
7.2 |
|
4 |
Ryan Vanderhorst |
38.2% |
37.0% |
78.6% |
2.5 |
0.9 |
6.1 |
|
30 |
Hrvoje Vucic |
51.3% |
33.3% |
89.5% |
3.3 |
0.5 |
5.4 |
|
44 |
Josh Henniger |
66.7% |
0.0% |
80.0% |
1.7 |
0.2 |
2.7 |
|
52 |
L.J. Campbell |
64.0% |
0.0% |
50.0% |
2 |
0.1 |
2.2 |
|
42 |
Kyle Arnold |
50.0% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
1.5 |
0.2 |
1.3 |
|
23 |
Melvin Burke Jr |
20.0% |
16.7% |
0.0% |
0.5 |
0.2 |
0.8 |
Ohio State
Leapin’ Lizards!
Thad Matta’s Buckeyes just missed out on a 30-win season last year with a record of 29-8 (13-5) and will miss DeShaun Thomas’ and Evan Ravenel’s contributions (25 PPG, 10 RPG, combined) this season. Thomas provided the bulk of these statistics, but Ravenal did provide a physical post presence, which is a plus during Conference play. Not to be outdone by Morgan State’s late season stretch, Ohio State ran off 11 straight wins before losing to Wichita State in the NCAA’s.
As you can tell from the link in the first paragraph, (top of page) Thad did a nice job of balancing playing time among the nine players who saw the floor. As in any early season scrimmage the news was interesting. The balanced playing time was reflected in balanced scoring as five Buckeyes scored in double figures, as the team shot 50% from the field. On the flip side, the team only shot 63% from the field on of. Craft, Thompson and Della Valle went 16-16, so Smith, Ross, Williams, Scott and Loving (combined 13-26) need a bit of work. Despite the above players’ foul shooting woes, they did combine for 37 rebounds (Williams 10 rebounds in 19 min), so they still had fine games.
And, here are your Ohio State Buckeyes:
| Player | |||||||
|
2 |
Marc Loving |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
4 |
Aaron Craft |
41.7% |
30.0% |
76.8% |
3.6 |
4.6 |
10.0 |
|
32 |
Lenzelle Smith Jr. |
43.0% |
37.4% |
68.7% |
4.8 |
1.5 |
9.2 |
|
10 |
LaQuinton Ross |
46.8% |
38.9% |
77.6% |
2.9 |
0.5 |
8.3 |
|
12 |
Sam Thompson |
49.8% |
40.4% |
70.3% |
3.5 |
1.0 |
7.8 |
|
15 |
Kam Williams |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
3 |
Shannon Scott |
40.8% |
33.3% |
62.7% |
2.8 |
3.8 |
4.9 |
|
23 |
Amir Williams |
55.6% |
0.0% |
55.7% |
3.9 |
0.1 |
3.5 |
|
33 |
Amedeo Della Valle |
37.5% |
38.5% |
50.0% |
1.5 |
0.3 |
2.5 |
|
55 |
Trey McDonald |
55.6% |
0.0% |
31.3% |
1.2 |
0.1 |
1.3 |
|
34 |
Jake Lorbach |
0.0% |
0.0% |
50.0% |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.7 |
|
24 |
Andrew Goldstein |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
The statistics are from last season. A “-“ indicates no statistics from the previous season.
Wrap Up
So, how’s this going to go for the Buckeyes? I’m honestly not sure, other than I expect OSU to use what I feel to be superior athleticism and depth to wear down the Bears. It’s likely that OSU wins this one by low double digits, maybe 12-14 points. I’d suggest that you attend the game, if possible, else tune in to BTN and join us for our live chat, see below.
Morgan State (same conference as FAMU) plays in front of small crowds, averaging 2,400 fans, so a large, loud crowd at The Schott would be a different experience for them. And hopefully, not a good experience, either.
The game is this Sunday with a 12:00 PM EST start. Please join us for our live blog beginning approximately 30 minutes before tip-off. The game will be broadcast on BTND (Big Ten Network Digital.
