Coming off the team’s most dominant win of the season against Portland, Ohio (2-5) lost to Texas State (5-3) 74-65 in the team’s final game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
Ohio senior AJ Clayton and junior Jackson Paveletzke were named to the All-Myrtle Beach Invitational Team at the closing of the invitational, with Clayton also earning Mid-American Conference Player of the Week honors.
Clayton averaged 23.3 points per game in the week's three games, along with 9.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Paveletzke recorded his first two double-doubles of his career in back-to-back games to open the invitational, averaging 12.3 points per game, 5.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists.
While the two had shone offensively coming into the game, it wasn’t much of the same in Ohio’s season-low scoring performance against Texas State. Ohio shot 36.5% from the field and 28.6% from three in the performance. The team handled the ball well, winning the turnover battle by committing seven to Texas State’s 10, but Ohio's inability to finish possessions with points was crucial.
Clayton still contributed a team-high 18 points but on just 5-of-13 shooting including 4-of-12 from 3-point range. Ohio had three other double-digit scorers: junior Aidan Hadaway, Paveletzke and junior Elmore James. However, with just 12 points from the rest of the cast, it wasn’t enough to get it done.
For Texas State, Tylan Pope led the way with a monster performance. The 6-foot-6 forward recorded a game-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, making two of his three 3-point attempts, as well as grabbing 10 rebounds.
The game started out with a sluggish back-and-forth. As the game approached the 10-minute point of the first half, the score stood at just 21-17 in Texas State’s favor.
A two-minute scoreless drought on both ends would end with Clayton grabbing a rebound and coming down the court to drain a three. Texas State would score on the other end, extending its lead to 3 points before Clayton came back down with another three to tie it at 23 apiece with 7:47 left in the first half.
The remainder of the half saw Ohio outscored 12-8, ending the half 35-31, in favor of Texas State. Pope had 13 of Texas State’s 35 points in the opening 20 minutes.
Jumpers from redshirt sophomore AJ Brown and Clayton allowed Ohio to take the lead back, 40-39, with 17:54 left in the game, but from that point, Ohio’s offense would begin to stall.
The drought ended with Texas State taking an 8-point lead, up 53-45 with 10:49 to go in the game. An Elmore James 3-pointer marked Ohio’s first basket in over four minutes.
The loss ended Ohio’s trip to Myrtle Beach with only one win in three games, falling to 2-5 overall.
