Buckeyes, Cincinnati playing exhibition game
Ohio State heads down I71 to take on Cincinnati in a charity exhibition game Friday evening at Fifth Third Arena.
Proceeds from the game will benefit mental health awareness in Cincinnati, Columbus and surrounding areas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the Ohio State Radio Network from Learfield.
• The game benefits mental health providers and charities within each school’s footprint, along with Jay’s Light, an organization begun by Dayton head coach Anthony Grant and his wife, Chris, to help mothers, fathers, teens and young adults find the resources to help with mental health struggles.
• The Buckeyes played in a similar event last year called The Spotlight, as they played at UD Arena against Dayton.
• There are two other charity exhibition games sponsored by CareSource this preseason. Dayton will host Xavier on Sunday and Arkansas will host Kansas on Oct. 25.
• Ohio State is under the direction of first year head coach Jake Diebler. He led the team to a 6-2 record as the interim head coach last season and then a pair of wins and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the NIT after being named the full-time head coach.
• The Buckeyes return seven players from last year’s team and welcome nine newcomers.
• Junior point guard Bruce Thornton was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team. He led the team in scoring last year and was second in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio while earning third team All-Big Ten honors.
• Five transfers joined the mix this offseason and all are expected to make big contributions. Aaron Bradshaw from Kentucky, Ques Glover from Kansas State, Meechie Johnson Jr. from South Carolina, Micah Parrish from San Diego State and Sean Stewart from Duke.
• Four freshmen were also added to the roster – John Mobley Jr., Colin White, Ivan Njegovan and Braylan Nash.
• Of the 11 players who played in a collegiate game, they have combined 621 games of experience. The leader is Parrish who has played 135 games, including the national championship game in 2023. He is in the Top 5 nationally in active career games played.
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