Ohio came away with a 78-68 win over Miami in a tightly-contested Battle of the Bricks Saturday to move to 4-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
It was a much-needed win for Ohio, which was coming off one of its most disappointing results of the season, a road loss to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday.
Eight of the nine players who saw the floor for the Bobcats Saturday scored, and six of them had at least five points. Despite this seemingly balanced scoring attack, there were only two Bobcats who scored in double figures.
The first was Jaylin Hunter, who continued his recent string of strong performances with 23 points, matching his season-high, to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. Hunter was 8-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from three and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
After transferring from Old Dominion in the offseason, Hunter has quickly become one of Ohio’s most important players. He has contributed in all facets of the game this season, ranking in the top three for Ohio in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
However, over the past few games, Hunter’s scoring, which has been inconsistent at best this year, has really started to take off. Over the Bobcats’ last three games, Hunter is averaging 20.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and four assists. For good measure, he has added three steals and a block in those three games.
“I’m just getting more and more comfortable in the system,” Hunter said. “I’m continuing to watch film and create and stick to a routine. The support from the guys, even when I wasn’t playing well, they kept believing in me, and that meant a lot to me, so I just want to return the favor.”
While Hunter has had a bit of an up-and-down year, the player who has been there all year for Ohio, Dwight Wilson III, stepped up once again Saturday.
“He’s been carrying us offensively all year,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “We ask a lot of him. When they started double-teaming, he made some really good passes out.”
Despite dealing with one of his toughest matchups of the season in Miami’s Anderson Mirambeaux, who stands 6-foot-8 and weighs 305 lbs., Wilson put up 21 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting and 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
“Their big is really good,” Wilson said. “So I was just trying to go at him and get him in foul trouble. I was just trying to get to my spots and convert.”
Not only did Wilson and Hunter combine to score 44 points, but they also did it efficiently. They were a combined 15-of-22 from the field and 11-of-11 from the free throw line.
In the loss to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, Ohio shot just 9-of-20 from the free throw line in an 11-point loss. When Hunter and Wilson found out they were perfect from the stripe and Ohio had shot 22-of-25, the two exchanged a handshake in the postgame press conference.
“It’s big,” Hunter said. “That might be the reason we lost to Eastern Michigan the other day. You don’t want to think about the free throws too much, just stay in the gym, stay consistent, and it paid off.”
Saturday may not have been the Bobcats’ most impressive performance of the season, but they came away with a key rivalry win, and given how tightly they are clinging on to a spot in the MAC Tournament, every one of them matters.
