University of Delaware Men’s Basketball Team Opens 2010-11 Regular Season Saturday at Ohio University
November 12, 2010
Photo courtesy of Mark Campbell
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware men’s basketball team opens its 2010-11 regular season on Saturday when the Blue Hens travel to Ohio University to face the Bobcats at the Convocation Center at 2 p.m.
Delaware, led by fifth-year head coach Monté Ross, is coming off an injury-plagued 2009-10 season in which the Blue Hens finished 7-24 overall and 3-15 in the Colonial Athletic Association. However the Blue Hens return all five starters and their top seven scorers, and also welcome back senior point guard Brian Johnson after he missed all of last year with an ACL injury.
UD will be paced by senior Jawan Carter (at right), a second team All-CAA selection last season and Preseason All-CAA Second Team pick this year. Carter ranked second in the CAA with 4.9 assists per game, third with 18.2 points per contest, and fourth with an 80.7 free throw percentage a year ago while leading all Division I players by averaging 39.2 minutes played per game.
Also returning to the Blue Hen backcourt is fellow senior and 1,000-point scorer Alphonso Dawson, who ranked second on the team with 12.1 points per game while leading the squad with 180 rebounds a year ago. Dawson made 27 starts during his junior year, reaching double figures in 21 games and eclipsing the 20-point mark three times.
The Delaware frontcourt will be led by junior Hakim McCullar, who appeared in all 31 games and started 17 in 2009-10. McCullar averaged 5.1 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, and scored a season-high 12 points at Towson. Sophomore Jamelle Hagins could also start inside after contributing 5.4 points per game and posting two double-doubles on the year.
Ohio University is coming off a 22-15 campaign in which the Bobcats won the MAC Tournament and posted a convincing 97-83 victory over Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio was picked to win the MAC East Division and repeat as conference tournament champion in this year’s MAC Preseason Poll, while OU sophomore guard D.J. Cooper was selected to the East Division Preseason All-MAC Team.
Cooper, last year’s MAC Freshman of the Year, broke the Ohio single season records with 93 steals and 218 assists. Tommy Freeman, a 6-5 senior guard, also returns for the Bobcats after averaging 10.5 points per game last year.
The teams have met just three times, with every meeting coming during the last three years. Ohio University won the only previous matchup in Athens, 78-59, on Dec. 8, 2007. The Blue Hens responded with a 75-66 triumph at the Bob Carpenter Center on Dec. 18, 2008, while Ohio took last year’s meeting, 86-70, in Newark on Dec. 12, 2009.
Back To Men's Basketball Home Men's Basketball Story Archive
