In both Athens and Oxford, The Battle of the Bricks is like a reoccurring holiday for Ohio and Miami’s constantly clashing teams. For basketball, fans are treated to four matchups, two each for the men’s and women’s teams.
Although neither team has the sheer amount of history that their football counterpart has, which peaked with the 2024 Mid-American Conference Championship in December, the heat of the rivalry is still palpable. The first of this season’s pair of matchups will take place Saturday for both teams, with women’s playing at 1 p.m. while the men’s team checks in at a scheduled 3:30 p.m.
In the last 10 matchups for each team, Ohio holds a dominant combined record of 16-4, dating back to 2019. Here is a brief history of those matchups:
Men’s Basketball
Although both teams have dominated, the men’s team has particularly oppressed its rival. The last 10 matchups started with a seven-game winning streak, and after a rare loss in February 2023, Ohio continued to win its previous two.
In the most recent matchup, March 8, 2023, Ohio came back after a losing first half to outscore Miami 46-32 in the second, winning 72-59. Current graduate student and junior Shereef Mitchell and Aidan Hadaway led the way with 20 apiece. The matchup prior was more consistent for Ohio, with the scoring spread more evenly. Joining Mitchell in double-figures was current senior AJ Clayton and Ohio graduates Jaylin Hunter and Miles Brown.
The RedHawks got their only win of the last 10 matchups on Feb. 25, 2023. Miami’s Mekhi Lairy and Morgan Stafford combined for 50 of the team’s 85 points, while Ohio could only manage 68 on 41% shooting.
The seven-game winning streak that followed featured some standout performances. Ben Vander Plas scored 53 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists on 18-of-25 shooting in a pair of 2021-22 matchups, while Jason Preston’s 15-point triple-double led the team to a 31-point victory in February 2020.
Ohio’s Saturday matchup will feature two current MAC titans, Miami and Ohio, who rank second and third in the MAC, respectively. For Ohio, the team is coming off a defensive grudge match against Kent State in The Convo, while Miami fell by 27 points to Akron on the road.
Women’s Basketball
Although it's been a handful of consecutive down seasons for Ohio’s women’s basketball team, the matchup against Miami is one that recently favors Athens. Over the last 10 matchups, Ohio has gone 7-3, splitting the previous three pairs of in-season matchups.
In 2023-24, Ohio won the first of two, starting a run for the MAC Tournament after a slow start to the season. Then-freshman Bailey Tabeling led the way with 18 points on a near-perfect shooting night before Ohio lost the second of the pair on the wrong end of a 14-point and 11-rebound double-double from Amber Tretter.
The four matchups between January 2022 and March 2023 were the era of Yaya Felder and Cece Hooks — two of Ohio’s most impressive statistical performers of the last decade. In the most recent two games of the four, Felder put together 60 points and 11 assists, while in the latter two, Hooks put together 55 points and 15 rebounds.
In the current season, Ohio’s next game in Oxford would be an incredible win. Despite the Bobcats coming off a victory, it’s been a lackluster season for last year’s seventh-place finishers in the MAC. However, Miami’s most recent loss to Kent State, coming at a score of 77-63, pointed to some potential weaknesses for Ohio to exploit.
