Ohio has won games in all different ways to start its Mid-American Conference schedule. To start the year, the Bobcats needed only 57 points to take down Central Michigan in a staunch defensive effort. Against Buffalo, it was a fluent all-around effort on both ends to take home an 88-79 victory.
Saturday afternoon, Ohio displayed an offense that many have come to expect this season, scoring a historic 108 points in a blowout victory against Northern Illinois.
“We came in talking about passing up good shots for great shots, and I thought we did that phenomenally,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said.
108 points is the most a Jeff Boals-led squad has ever scored against a MAC opponent in regulation and the most any Ohio team has scored against a MAC opponent since 2016.
At the end of the game, it was a team effort that pushed Ohio across the finish line, but no one had an impact larger than senior forward AJ Clayton. The Roseville, Ohio, native came out hot and didn’t let up till the final buzzer.
Clayton started eight-of-eight from the 3-point line en route to a 31-point scoring effort despite only playing in 18 of the game’s 40 minutes. Clayton ended his day shooting nine-of-10 from the 3-point line.
“Seeing the first couple go in, the basket just feels like it’s 10 feet,” Clayton said.
When Clayton finally did miss a 3-point shot, he was so hot that Boals noted he was shocked that he even missed one.
Clayton’s efficiency became a trend for Ohio as the team didn’t miss a shot for the game’s first 7 minutes. It felt like the game had just started for Northern Illinois when it was already looking at a 15-7 deficit less than 5 minutes into the game.
When Clayton rested on the bench, transfer guard Jackson Paveletzke led the team to its historic scoring mark. Paveletzke shot an efficient nine-of-10 from the field while assisting on five Ohio baskets.
Paveletzke, who ranks second in the MAC in assists, noted that when you have a player on the court as hot as Clayton, it makes his job easy as the facilitator of the offense. On the offensive end, the team just tried to “feed the hot hand.”
In the second half, Ohio got contributions from a handful of bench players while its starters rested in response to the big lead. A recently rehabilitated Shereef Mitchell came in and recorded three 3-pointers and 15 total points.
As a team, Ohio had a historic day from the 3-point line, knocking down 17 total threes, the second-best mark in program history. Clayton’s nine 3-pointers were a career-high and also the fifth-best mark in a game in program history.
When you shorten the record book, Ohio’s 57 points in the first half is the most that it has scored in a half all season, including nonconference play. Additionally, Ohio’s 108 points are the most it has scored in any game since its victory over NAIA Defiance in 2023.
After a dominating first three games of MAC play, Ohio is beginning to look like the team that was picked to finish first in the conference and have the MAC Player of the Year in AJ Clayton.
