The 2009–10 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team represented Ohio University in the college basketball season of 2009–10. The team was coached by John Groce and played their homes game at the Convocation Center.
At the end of the regular season Ohio was seeded 9th in the 2010 MAC men's basketball tournament with a conference record of 7–9. However, the Bobcats reeled off four straight wins to win the MAC tournament, including an overtime win over Akron in the championship game. The victory earned them an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. On Selection Sunday they were given the 14 seed in the Midwest region and slated to play the 3 seed Georgetown.
In a huge upset, the Bobcats dominated the Hoyas almost the whole game in the first round of the NCAA tournament, beating them 97–83. The win was Ohio's first NCAA Tournament win since 1983, when they toppled Illinois State in the first round. The Bobcats advanced to face the #6 seed Tennessee. They were knocked off by Tennessee 83–67 to finish the season 22–15.
Before the season
Roster changes The Ohio Bobcats lost six players from last year's team. Out of those six players, three were starters and two players recorded over 10 points per game. Jerome Tillman, who averaged 17.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for the Bobcats, now plays for the French team ÉS Chalon-sur-Saône The other two starters that departed from last year's team were Justin Orr and Michael Allen. Ohio has recruited six players to replace those players for the current season.
Recruiting
Following Ohio's exhibition win against Ashland on November 13, John Groce announced that Marquis Horne had left the team for, "personal reasons." Horne accrued 15 points and 10 rebounds in his two exhibition games as a Bobcat.
James (Jay) Kinney was dismissed from the team on February 12, 2010 due to repeated violation of team rules and policies.
Roster
Coaching staff Name Position College Graduating year John Groce Head coach Taylor University 1994 Chris Holtmann Assistant coach Taylor University 1994 Dustin Ford Assistant coach Ohio University 2001 Ramon Williams Assistant coach Virginia Military Institute 1990 Aaron Fuss Director of Operations Ohio State University 2005
Preseason
Preseason men's basketball poll On October 28, the members of the MAC News Media Panel voted in the Preseason Media Poll. Ohio was picked last in the MAC East
+ East Division Place Team 1st Points 1 Akron Zips 19 190 points 2 Kent State Golden Flashes 3 108 points 3 Buffalo Bulls 1 97 points 4 Miami RedHawks – 78 points 5 Bowling Green Falcons 1 54 points 6 Ohio – 32 points+ West Division Place Team 1st Points 1 Central Michigan Chippewas 10 113 points 2 Northern Illinois Huskies 4 102 points 3 Eastern Michigan Eagles 3 94 points 4 Ball State Cardinals 3 87 points 5 Western Michigan Broncos 4 79 points 6 Toledo Rockets – 29 points MAC tournament winner Akron (19), Buffalo (2), Northern Illinois (1), Kent State (1), Bowling Green (1)
Schedule
!colspan=9 style="| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style="| Regular Season
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Statistics
Team statistics Final 2009–10 statistics
Scoring 2763 2569 Scoring Average 74.68 69.43 Field goals – Att 925–2153 905–2165 3-pt. Field goals – Att 278–759 222–711 Free throws – Att 635–883 537–767 Rebounds 1371 1397 Assists 524 515 Turnovers 473 566 Steals 278 214 Blocked Shots 97 130 Source
Player statistics MinutesScoringTotal FGs3-point FGsFree-ThrowsReboundsPlayerGPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGFGAPct3FG3FAPctFTFTAPctOffDefTotAvgAPFTOStlBlkArmon Bassett3329115034.856417.11644210.39722080.3461642020.8129991083.31174477412D.J. Cooper3736131335.549813.51564170.374652040.3191211580.766671311985.421876999311Tommy Freeman3735101727.538810.51152390.481931950.47765760.8551558732378944183DeVaughn Washington322082325.736311.31212400.5040201211760.68884881725.42094593313Kenneth van Kempen3734102827.82516.81122460.45505027390.692671802476.726124452023Reggie Keely371760216.32005.4831670.49700034840.40564941584.31984411227James Kinney19342622.41859.7691720.40131960.32316210.762326291.5293427153Steven Coleman10424824.811311.331770.40312300.439460.848636424.2253515153Ivo Baltic37242111.41082.941840.48801026520.52769962.6145742168Asown Sayles29544815.4722.525730.3423100.319260.7312956852.9165016124David McKinley140443.11415110.455280.252210220.133230Adetunji Adedipe160301.970.4360.50001112460.406100Total37-7550-276374.792521530.4302787590.3666358830.719443928137137.152469647327897Opponents37-7550-256969.490521650.4182227110.3125377670.700472925139737.8515746566214130 Legend GP Games played GS Games started Avg Average per game FG Field-goals made FGA Field-goal attempts Off Offensive rebounds Def Defensive rebounds A Assists TO Turnovers Blk Blocks Stl Steals High Team high Source
Awards and honors
All-MAC Awards Postseason All-MAC teamsTeamPlayerPositionYearMAC Freshman of the YearDJ CooperGFr.All-MAC Freshamn TeamDJ CooperGFr. Source
References