Tigers bring momentum into Saturday's conference opener

The unranked DePauw men's basketball team toppled preseason No. 6 North Central last Saturday and while the week one rankings have yet to arrive, the conference season is already upon the Tigers.

DPU (2-0, 0-0 NCAC) will host Oberlin on Saturday, a North Coast Athletic Conference rival, in its first home game of the 2013-14 season.

Originally scheduled for the weekend before finals, the game was bumped up as the NCAC teams try to accommodate two extra conference games into the schedule this year, DPU coach Bill Fenlon said.

While on the surface the game seems like a mismatch in favor of the Tigers, the team off to a fast start against the 0-2 Yeo, Fenlon cautions it's not as easy to predict as that.

"We have not had tremendous success against them," he said. "There's a lot of reasons that you ought to be ready to play, but you never know until they throw it up."

Oberlin (0-2, 0-1 NCAC) has already played a conference game, losing to Wooster at home on Tuesday, and it will be motivated to avoid a 0-2 start in conference play. Plus, Fenlon said, Oberlin always gives his team trouble.

Euphemistically, the Yeo are a patient offense team. They rarely deviate from their Princeton offense which works the shot clock down until they find room inside for an open cutter or a lazy rotation from the defense.

This pace has troubled DePauw in the past, Fenlon said, notably in last season's game when the Tigers fell behind 12-0 before eventually losing by two on a last-second shot.

DePauw is patient, too, but they're more willing to take an open shot when they get it. So long as they've reversed the ball a couple times, the Tigers are allowed to take a good shot early instead of having to wait for a great shot late.

Finding those shots and hitting them to start the game is a key to making the Yeomen play DePauw's pace, rather than the other way around.

"In the couple games that they've beaten us, the game's been played completely at their pace," Fenlon said. "We can't even. We can't be playing from behind against them."

It's not just the system Oberlin runs that concerns Fenlon. Their center, 6-9, 240 pound sophomore Randy Ollie, has size the Tigers can't match, particularly with junior Tommy Fernitz set to miss the game with an ankle injury.

Junior guard Miles Gueno, leading his team at 13.5 points after two games, and senior Geoff Simpson, who DPU had trouble with last year, also have the Tigers' eye, Fenlon said.

DePauw has plenty of scoring as well, not just in the starting five but also off the bench. Senior Michael Wilkison helped lead the team to the two wins last weekend, picking up tournament MVP honors after scoring 24 points against host North Central.

He's also come off the bench in the team's first two games, and he'll do so again Saturday.

"One of the reasons I like him coming off the bench is I can bring him in at both guard spots depending on how the game starts and it gives us a little more firepower offensively," Fenlon said.

DePauw looks to get its first NCAC win Saturday with tipoff set for 3 p.m.