In its 108-70 win over Northern Illinois (4-11, 0-3 Mid-American Conference), Ohio (9-6, 3-0 MAC) scored more points than it has against any other MAC opponent in the Jeff Boals era.
With the win, the Bobcats remain undefeated in conference play and extend their winning streak to five games. Additionally, the team improved to 6-0 at home.
Senior forward AJ Clayton led the way for Ohio, tallying 31 points and a career-high nine 3-pointers on 10 attempts in a game that got him over 1,000 career points. Clayton played just 16 minutes in the blowout but helped Ohio outscore Northern Illinois by 29 points in those minutes.
“Seeing the first couple (shots) go in, the basket just feels like it’s 10 feet,” Clayton said.
Clayton got the Bobcats going early with 8 consecutive points, including his first two 3-pointers, to put the team up 12-4 in the opening minutes. With juniors Jackson Paveletzke and Aidan Hadaway helping along the way, Ohio didn’t miss a shot for nearly 7 minutes to start.
“We were all looking up seeing that (we weren’t missing shots),” Clayton said. “Everybody was hitting today, we shared the ball great and we moved around in the zone … when everybody’s making shots it just makes us harder to guard.”
Ohio finished the game with 17 3-pointers on 31 total attempts. Although Clayton was the primary contributor, it is a testament to Ohio coach Boals instilling in his team the priority of great shots over good shots.
“You think the first (shot) is open, right? But then they fly out at you,” Boals said. “The way they were guarding us, we knew where we wanted to get the ball, where the shots were going to come from.”
In the first half, Ohio shot 8-of-14 from 3-point range, led by Clayton’s 5 3-pointers on just as many attempts. That shooting, combined with spectacular ball movement, helped the team take a 57-39 lead at the half.
Heading into the second half, Ohio showed it had learned not to take its foot off the gas from its previous game against Buffalo. While Ohio was able to pull out an 88-79 win, the 9-point margin at the finish was a far cry from the 20-plus point lead it had held for much of the second half.
“One of our coaches said (at halftime), ‘Hey, stay hungry,’” Boals said. “And I’m like, ‘Hey, instead of being hungry, let’s eat.’ I thought we kept doing that.”
Instead, against the Huskies, the Bobcats continued to speed right through the remainder of the game. Clayton once again started the half hot, notching 13 points before subbing out for the majority of the game’s remaining time.
In his rest, graduate guard Shereef Mitchell began to pile on buckets. Mitchell tallied 15 points in his best game of the season after missing a handful of games with a leg injury.
“I’m so happy for Shereef,” Boals said. “He went through that injury, missed a lot of time, missed a lot of practice. Defensively, he’s phenomenal; offensively, he started pressing the last few games, trying to get his rhythm going, so it’s great to see him hit a shot.”
Alongside Mitchell, Ohio’s two available freshmen, Ayden Evans and Elijah Elliott, contributed good minutes. The pair combined for 14 points and eleven rebounds, getting most of their minutes in Ohio’s dominant second half.
“When you get in there and produce positively, you build trust,” Boals said. “Those two obviously did that today.”
Ohio’s undefeated MAC start will face another challenge Tuesday against 8-7 Ball State, but the team believes momentum is in its favor.
“You’re playing to get to Cleveland, and you’re really playing for momentum,” Boals said. “As long as we go day-to-day and control what we can control, I feel good about this group.”
