Nov. 11, 2006

Recap |  Box Score

ATHENS, Ohio -

Ohio Head Coach Tim O'Shea
Opening statement:
It was a good first effort, especially considering how highly-regarded Marist is coming into the season. It's the same team they had a year ago that beat St. Johns, Seton Hall, and is unanimously picked to win their league. I think that score, especially the margin will really catch people's attention. I thought it was a terrific effort. The chemistry on the floor was really outstanding. I was really pleased to see a guy like Stephen King really get his chance to contribute. Our team will be all the better if we can develop him and a couple other guys off the bench until Thanksgiving, then we get Bubba (Walther) and Johnnie (Jackson) back and we'll really have some options there. Kenneth van Kempen, for his first game as a freshman, really showed why I was excited when we got him. Not only is he a really credible kid in terms of his academics and team attitude, he really can play. He can give us a lift all year long, I was really pleased with what he brought to the table.

On Leon Williams' success:
If we're going to have the type of season we all hope to have, Leon is going to lead the way. He's got the potential to have that type of effect every night but the difference this year that's really going to help his cause is that we're pairing him up with a Jerome Tillman and a van Kempen so teams can't double-team him and look at him as the only inside player we have. That was the case his freshman year. And obviously if van Kempen can consistently score in the post like that, and we all know Tillman can, Leon's going to get a lot of one on one coverage and he's going to have a lot games like he had tonight.

On the early scoring drought:
I was concerned. In the first four minutes we don't have a bucket and I felt we were going to struggle, perhaps. I was hoping King was going to come off the bench and make some baskets, and he did that. And then van Kempen was a surprise to me, I didn't expect in his first game he was going to score that well. That did kind of open things up for everybody else. And then we settled down and we have 83 points which is pretty good considering we didn't have any points in the first five minutes.

On concerns about the team's short bench:
In practice yesterday and Thursday, the second half I had no contact so we wouldn't be down to eight. I don't want to lose a guy in practice before a game. I was very encouraged by what I saw out there, but it's early. That was big for us. When that score goes up, it's certainly going to raise some eyebrows and look favorably upon us for that score. I'm definitely very pleased with the effort today.

On van Kempen's debut:
Van Kempen was a big surprise to me today. Not that he defended well, but how well he played offensively. It's a big adjustment culturally and academically (coming from The Netherlands), and basketball has probably been his biggest adjustment. He's really made some progress.

On the balance in scoring:
It's a sign of chemistry. They're all pretty good and it makes it difficult for your opponent to zero in on. If we can develop five or six scoring options, that's only going to make us a better team.

Ohio junior Leon Williams
On Ohio's success in the paint:
We were able to pound it inside, making plays trying to get them in early foul trouble, which we did. So after that, everything just opened up, it was just part of our game plan.

On having help in the post:
Oh, it feels good. It's a lot of stress off me. Kenneth (van Kempen) comes in and gives me a break, and Jerome (Tillman) too, it's just a good feeling right now.

On Ohio's success against preseason favorite Marist:
I just think it shows that we're a pretty good team. We can play. They're pretty good, they're picked number one (in their conference), but I think picked being number one in their conference, we just came out and played our game.

Ohio senior Whitney Davis
On the scoring drought early in the game:
I think the first four minutes, we were real anxious. It was the first real game, had a nice-size crowd. We just needed to calm down and run our sets. We had some good post play today and we knew we could get some good shots, so you know we'd just get it inside and eventually they'd either foul or we'd score and kick it out and we'd be rolling.

On defending Marist's preseason conference player of the year Jared Jordan:
First off, we started off when we were in the open court we'd have a four-man just be in his area so that he constantly sees two people. Besides that, just making him use screens, get him to stay in front of us, and just trying to get him to work hard and constantly put pressure on him.

On Ohio's balanced scoring effort:
We feel like we have a lot of offensive fire power, and I feel like we showed that tonight. We got a lot of guys that can take it to the basket, people that can knock down shots, and a lot of big men that can make moves. I feel like we showed that tonight.

On the effect of a strong frontcourt:
We know we can fill out more ball pressure on the guards, because we know if they get past us we got some guys in the back that can not only step up and cut them off, but they can make blocks as you saw tonight. It allows us to put more pressure on them offensively because you know if we're not rolling, we will definitely be able to feed Leon and Jerome and Ken and so forth to get us on the right track. If we get them rolling they just open more things up for us, more driving lanes, more open shots.

On one area of improvement:
I felt like we played pretty good defense on their guards for the most part, but toward the end they started getting a lot more open looks. We started to loosen up a little bit, I felt like we could have held them if we would have stayed tighter and been more disciplined.

Marist Head Coach Matt Brady
Opening Statement:
Give credit to Ohio University, Tim and his staff. They outplayed us from the very beginning. They made us play poorly on offense, out-toughed us the whole game, super aggressive, very physical; they had an edge we didn't match. We're going to use this as a learning experience. We had no idea what (Kenneth) van Kempen was going to be like. Their frontcourt dominated us. Leon Williams is a marvelous player, there are very few teams that can simulate and practice what he does. He really plays like an NBA power forward.

On their offensive struggles:
I just don't think we played well enough. Teams are going to guard us and stay with us and we like to shoot early in the shot clock. One thing we have to learn, we have to make teams work longer and we lost our composure when Ohio stayed with us. I don't think we're prepared to play offense long enough on each possession.