Bobcats land five NCAA teams on non-conference schedule

Ohio men’s basketball coach Saul Phillips and the Bobcats will face five teams that reached the NCAA Tournament in March during the non-conference portion of the 2018-19 schedule.

Messenger file photo Ohio University released its 2018-19 men’s basketball schedule on Thursday, including a non-conference slate that includes seven teams that won 18 or more games last season.

Ohio, 14-17 in 2017-18, will feature another home-heavy non-conference slate, sprinkled with a handful of road games in December. The toughest portion of the non-conference comes in December with games against Marshall, Xavier and Purdue over a three-week span.

The non-conference portion of the schedule will feature games…