Ohio (20-12 overall, 13-5 Mid-American Conference) defeated Western Michigan (12-20 overall, 9-9 MAC) in the first round of the MAC tournament by a score of 82-55 and will advance to the second round to take on Akron.
The last time Ohio lost was to a talented Toledo team on Feb. 16 on the road by just 2 points. Since that game, Ohio has won seven straight games and has been playing its best basketball of the season. While the score indicates a pretty, easy performance for Ohio, it was anything but, as it fought for all the points it earned, starting in the first half.
The game started slow for both teams, Ohio’s defense started fast and aggressive and held Western Michigan scoreless for the first six minutes of the first half.
To go along with the slow start was the struggle of the 3-point shot for both teams. Ohio was unable to connect from deep until there were two minutes left in the first half. Ohio only shot 2-13 from 3 in the first half but went into halftime with a 13-point lead.
The Bobcats earned that lead through tough defense and skilled finishing at the rim.
Ike Cornish and Ajay Sheldon linked up on a beautiful play that sent Sheldon cutting to the rim to receive a perfectly placed lob pass from Cornish and finish the layup in the air.
A few minutes later, Shereef Mitchell delivered a bounce pass to Miles Brown on a fast break. Brown took the pass and finished through contact for an and-one reverse layup. That play sparked Ohio with some needed energy that allowed it to pull away from Western Michigan.
“Shereef (Mitchell) does a great job of getting to the rim," Brown said. “He made that one more pass to me and I was able to finish it. I fell down, and of course, all of my teammates came to help me up; that was beautiful.”
Ohio’s first defensive possession coming out of the break was a shot-clock violation that gave it the ball back. Ohio’s Head Coach Jeff Boals was fired up on the sidelines after a tone-setting play that started with the on-ball defense of Mitchell who had a staggering six total steals on the day.
“It starts with our defense,” said Boals. “We knew we had to set the tone defensively, take away the easy baskets, and the fact neither of these two (Brown and Mitchell) are on an all-defensive team is kind of crazy. They set the tone, they are two great on-ball defenders.
That tone-setting play gave way to a second half that was all in favor of Ohio. The Bobcats flipped the 3-point shooting script of the first half and went 7-16 from deep in the second.
Everyone got in on the 3-point party, even Ohio center Gabe Wiznitzer, who hit his first 3 of the season much to the delight of the Bobcat bench.
“He set the screen and I saw him pick and pop,” said Brown. “We were all excited, that was a huge 3 and a huge play for him.”
While Ohio’s shooting wasn’t always the prettiest, its fundamentals were, as it out-rebounded Western Michigan and won the turnover battle 18-3 — a staggering comparison and a testament to Ohio’s excellent ball movement.
Ohio’s focus now turns to Akron as the two teams will face off Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a spot in the conference championship game. Ohio bested Akron the last time it matched up in Athens; however, tournament basketball is a different beast, and Ohio will need to be on its A-game.
