Men’s Basketball: Ohio Northern (8-3 Overall, 2-2 OAC) at Otterbein (9-2 Overall, 3-1 OAC)

Wednesday, January 5, 2022, 7 p.m. - Rike Center, Westerville, Ohio

Wednesday's Preview: Ohio Northern opens the 2022 portion of its schedule on Wednesday by resuming Ohio Athletic Conference play with a road game at Otterbein … The Polar Bears are coming off going 2-0 in the Smokey Ballenger Classic at Otterbein, getting wins of 87-83 over Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday and 78-59 over Olivet (Mich.) on Thursday … Senior Brandon Waugh was named to the event's All-Tournament Team after averaging 20 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6 assists and 2.5 steals per game while shooting 46.7% from the field, including 47.1% from beyond the arc in making 8 3-pointers … Junior C.J. Napier also stood out, averaging 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game in the event … ONU is averaging 73.0 points per game and allowing 75.1 points per contest while shooting 45.3% from the field, 36.3% on 3-pointers and 61.7% from the foul line … Northern currently has 4 players averaging double figures in scoring with Napier (14.5 points per game), Waugh (13.9) and juniors Landen Long (11.9) and Adam Scott (10.6) … Napier is tied for 11th in the OAC in scoring average, and his team-high 8.1 rebounds per game ranks fifth in the conference … Napier also leads ONU in steals with 14 … Waugh ranks 14th in the OAC in scoring average, and his 24 made 3-pointers are tied for fourth-best in the conference … Waugh leads ONU with 34 assists, which ranks sixth in the OAC … Waugh is currently tied with Tom Ross ('67-'70) for 15th on the program's all-time career steals list with 124 … Waugh's 221 career assists are 17 shy of breaking into the top 20 on the ONU leaderboard in that category … The Polar Bears will next host John Carroll on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the second half of a women's-men's doubleheader … Otterbein is coming off of Thursday's 64-60 home win over Ohio Wesleyan in the Smokey Ballenger Classic after defeating Olivet (Mich.) 63-60 on Wednesday … Sophomore Cam Evans was named to the All-Tournament Team after coming off the bench to score 18 and 15 points, respectively, against Olivet and OWU … OU was awarded a victory on Monday after its game against Baldwin Wallace was canceled due to COVID issues with the Yellow Jackets … The Cardinals are off to their best start under third-year head coach Andy Winters … Otterbein is averaging 72.6 points per game while allowing 68.2 points per contest … The Cardinals are shooting 44.4% from the floor, 36.9% on 3-pointers and 76.4% from the foul line … Junior Dallas Patrick (14.6 points per game) and Evans (11.1) are averaging double-figure scoring for Otterbein … Patrick ranks 10th in the OAC in scoring average … Senior Reid Black leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 per game, which ranks 10th in the OAC … Redshirt senior Justin Carter has a team-high 22 assists and 11 steals … Senior Jake Justice has made a team-high 16 3-pointers on 47.1% shooting from beyond the arc.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 74-57 margin, including a 29-33 mark on the road … The teams last met in February 2020 when OU came away with an 83-66 home win.

Head Coach Rich Bensman: Bensman is in his sixth season at ONU with a 64-63 record, a winning percentage of .504.