By Danielle Daniels

GAME NOTES

https://miamiredhawks.com/documents/2023/12/5/2023-24_mbk_Ohio_State.pdf

THIS WEDNESDAY: The RedHawks travel east to battle Ohio State this Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. The game will take place at Value City Arena and can be streamed on Big Ten Plus.

ABOUT OHIO STATE: The Ohio State University men’s basketball team put up a 16-19 (5-15 Big Ten) record this past season. Head coach Chris Holtmann enters his seventh season with the Buckeyes after becoming the 14th head coach for Ohio State in June 2017. Holtmann spent time as a head coach with Butler and Gardner-Webb. Ohio State has 15 players on its roster. The 2023-24 Big Ten Preseason Media Poll has the Buckeyes projected to finish seventh this season.

This season, Bruce Thornton leads the Buckeyes offense in scoring with 19.3 points per game and also holds the team-high in assists (4.5 per game). Felix Okpara leads the team in rebounding (6.6 per contest) and is also averaging the most blocks (2.5) on the team. Thornton has racked up the most steals with 1.75 per contest.

Transfer forward Jamison Battle played in 27 games for Minnesota last season, averaging 12.4 points and knocking down 59 three-pointers. On six different occasions, Battle posted 20 or more points for the Gophers. He was named an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2022 and has been named to the Julius Erving Watch list (for the second time) this season.

Zed Key returns to OSU for his senior year after sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury in 2022-23. Key recorded career-highs in points (10.8) and rebounds (7.5) per game last winter, and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten on the coaches’ side. He also totaled personal bests of 24 total blocks and 14 total steals.

THE SERIES WITH THE BUCKEYES: Wednesday will be the 10th all-time meeting between Miami and Ohio State. The Buckeyes lead the series 7-2. The two teams last faced off with each other on Dec. 30, 2017, a 72-59 Ohio State victory in Columbus.

UP NEXT: Miami travels to take on Davidson Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m.

RECENT PLAY: The Miami University men’s basketball team edged past Marshall 79-74 in Huntington, W.Va. on Saturday night. Mekhi Cooper recorded 17 points to lead all players in scoring. Three other players scored in double-figures for Miami: Evan Ipsaro (16), Bradley Dean (14) and Darweshi Hunter (11).

THREE-POINT BARRAGE: Miami shot 50% from behind the three-point line against Marshall for the first time this season (.50/13-of-26). The last time the Red and White made more than 13 threes was against Calumet College in December 2022. The RedHawks knocked down 16 shots versus the Crimson Wave (.59/16-of-27).

HUNTER GAMES: In his first seven games with Miami, graduate transfer Darweshi Hunter has totaled 94 points and has knocked down 42.9% of his shots from the field. Hunter has recorded 15 three-point field goals (ninth in the MAC) on 35.7% shooting. His 2.14 threes per game currently stands at eighth in the MAC. Hunter also ranks sixth in defensive rebounds (4.71) per contest.

MORRIS MADNESS: Sophomore Jaquel Morris ranks 88th nationally and fourth in the MAC in blocks per game (1.57). This season, Morris finds himself with a total of 11 blocks (fourth in the MAC). So far, Morris has averaged 8.1 points (fourth on the team), 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.3 assists and 0.4 steals. Last season, Morris recorded an average of 1.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 0.8 assists and 0.3 steals a game.

FRESHMEN IMPACT: This season, Miami’s freshmen have totaled 207 of 502 total points scored in the first seven games played.

Mekhi Cooper is currently averaging 8.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 0.7 steals in Miami’s first seven games. Cooper is currently second on the team in assists per game (19 total) and third in scoring (62 total). Cooper led Miami with two steals (career-high) in the first game of the season against Evansville. Against Spalding, he notched a career-high in rebounds (5). Most recently, he led Miami with a career-high 17 points against Marshall.

Eian Elmer has averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.4 blocks, 0.3 steals and 0.1 assists this year for Miami. On the season, Elmer led the RedHawks in rebounding against Evansville (seven rebounds), St. Bonaventure (five) and Spalding (nine). He also led the team in blocks versus Evansville.

Evan Ipsaro has put up 9.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game and leads the RedHawks in assists (2.9 apg). He scored the most points for Miami against Eastern Illinois with a career-high 18. Ipsaro led the team with five assists (career-high) against St. Bonaventure, and two steals versus Evansville (career-high). He also added a career-high four rebounds against St. Bonaventure.

Jackson Kotecki has totaled an average of 6.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.6 blocks, 0.3 steals and 0.3 assists. Kotecki led the RedHawks with a career-high in points (19) and blocks (2) versus Spalding.

THE BRADLEY DEAN STORY: Bradley Dean sat down with MiamiRedHawks.com to discuss what drew him to join Miami Men’s Basketball when the D2CCA All-American and SAC Player of the Year entered the transfer portal this offseason looking for a Division I opportunity on the hardwood. Check out the newest feature story here!

MIAMI CLASSIC: The RedHawks built some early momentum with an undefeated home weekend in the Miami Classic this November. Bryce Bultman (MVP), Evan Ipsaro and Darweshi Hunter were named to the All-Tournament team after averaging double figures as Miami posted wins over Coppin State (76-48) and Eastern Illinois (76-64).

FRESH ON THE SCENE: Bryce Bultman is a guard from McKendree University where he averaged 15.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists. In his final year with McKendree, Bultman earned Unanimous First Team All-GLVC, NABC All District All-Midwest District First Team and D2CAA First Team All-Region.

Bradley Dean is a guard from the University of Virginia College at Wise. During his tenure he averaged 14.8 points, 3.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds. In his last campaign with the team, Dean was named a member of the D2CCA All-Southeast Region First Team, he was a D2CCA All-American Honorable Mention and earned NABC Second Team Southeast All-District. He also was named the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Player of the Year and made First Team All-SAC.

Darweshi Hunter is a guard from Northern Illinois University. While attending he averaged 6.4 pts, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists with the Huskies. Prior to Northern Illinois, Hunter attended both Weber State and Central State (division II). While attending Central State, Hunter was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Associations (D2CCA), All-South Region First Team and All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) First Team. He also earned SIAC Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS