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Ohio Receives No. 14 Seed in Midwest, Will Face No. 3 Seed Georgetown in NCAA Tournament
March 14, 2010
• NCAA Tournament Central Athens, Ohio - The Baker Center Ballroom was packed early Sunday evening to not only welcome home their Mid-American Conference Champions, but to wait, watch and react to the news that the Ohio Bobcats would receive a No. 14 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and face the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, the Georgetown Hoyas. The Bobcats, 21-14 overall after winning their fifth MAC title, will play on Thursday, March 18 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, R.I. Tipoff time is still to be determined. "It's exciting and you can't really describe it," D.J. Cooper said. "I posted on my Twitter that I had to pinch myself because I still couldn't believe it. We get the opportunity to play against a really good team like Georgetown now in the first round so we're ready to go." This is the fifth time in program history that Ohio has been a double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament and the second time they have been a No.-14 seed. The only other occurrence was in 1985 when the Bobcats lost to Kansas, 49-38. Georgetown enters the game with a record of 23-10 and was the runner-up in the BIG EAST Tournament. Under the tutelage of John Thompson III, the Hoyas have reached the NCAA Tournament four times in the last five years, including a trip to the 2007 Final Four. Georgetown, one of college basketball's most storied programs, has won one national title and advanced to five Final Fours. "Chris Wright is a great point guard, Austin Freeman is a terrific shooter and they also have Greg Monroe," Head Coach John Groce said. "They're well-coached, very disciplined, take great shots and execute very well. It's going to be a challenge for us but it's one we're really looking forward to." This will be the 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Ohio. The Bobcats have a 4-12 all-time record (lost a Regional Third Place Game in 1960) and will be making their first trip to the tournament under Groce. Armon Bassett (Terre Haute, Ind.) is coming off a tremendous run during the MAC Tournament in which he earned MVP honors. The junior guard scored 116 points in four games during a six-day span, an average of 29.0 points per game. DeVaughn Washington (Virginia Beach, Va.) was the second-leading scorer and rebounder for the Bobcats with averages of 15 and 6.3 per contest. Kenneth van Kempen (Weert, The Netherlands) finished with 10 points and nine rebounds in the championship game and averaged a team-high 7.8 boards in the tournament. Cooper (Chicago, Ill.), the MAC Freshman of the Year, had his best performance in the championship game also with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. |
