Ohio picked up its fifth consecutive win Saturday in dominant fashion, beating Central Michigan 76-59 on the road to improve to 8-6 in Mid-American Conference play and move one step closer to qualifying for the MAC Tournament.
While Saturday’s win was just Ohio’s second conference road win and its fourth road win overall this season, Ohio has now won a pair of road games during its current win streak. It was also Ohio’s seventh straight win over Central Michigan.
Here are the numbers you need to know from Saturday’s win:
12
Central Michigan scored the first 12 points of Saturday’s game, and Ohio found itself down 14-2 only six minutes into the game. It took Ohio more than five minutes to score a single point, and it looked as if it might be headed for another disappointing road loss.
The Bobcats responded with a 36-16 run to end the half and took an eight-point lead into the break. Things only got worse from there for the Chippewas, as they were outscored by nine in the second half.
In just Ohio’s fifth conference game of the season, it allowed the first 13 points against Toledo and went on to lose comfortably. Ohio’s response to going down early on Saturday shows how much the team has improved since the beginning of conference play.
28
Ohio completed a season sweep of Central Michigan with Saturday’s win, and the two victories saw Ohio hit a combined 28 3-pointers. After making a season-high 15 in the first game, Ohio shot a blistering 13-of-23 on Saturday.
The two games against the Chippewas represent the Bobcats' two highest single-game 3-point totals of the year, and the 56.5% they shot from beyond the arc on Saturday is their second-highest mark of the season.
5
For the second game in a row, Ohio had five players score in double figures. In Tuesday’s win over Buffalo, it was Elmore James, Dwight Wilson III, Jaylin Hunter, Miles Brown and DeVon Baker. While Miles Brown, Hunter and Baker all did it against Central Michigan as well, A.J. Brown and A.J. Clayton replaced James and Wilson as Ohio’s double-digit scorers.
This means that over the past two games, Ohio has had seven different players score in double figures at least once. Even better for Ohio, James and Wilson were the two leading scorers against Buffalo with 15 points each, while it was Clayton who led the way against Central Michigan with 18 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
6
Jaylin Hunter ranks in the top five in the MAC in both assists and steals, and he recorded six of each on Saturday. Six represents Hunter’s season-high in steals and is his most assists since Ohio’s Jan. 24 win over Western Michigan.
When Hunter’s shot wasn’t falling at the start of the season, he showed off his ability to impact the game in other ways. But now that he is combining that ability with improved scoring over the last few weeks, he looks like one of the best players in the MAC.
