After a low-scoring first meeting on the road, Ohio (14-12, 8-5 Mid-American Conference) invited Central Michigan (11-15, 5-8 MAC) into The Convo for a game akin to a track meet. Five players would account for nearly three-fourths of the game’s 166 points, finishing with an 84-82 Ohio win.
Three of those five players belonged to Ohio. Jackson Paveletzke, AJ Brown and Shereef Mitchell combined for 60 points on 50% shooting. For Central Michigan, Jakobi Heady contributed 35 points followed closely by Ugnius Jarusevicius with 25 of his own.
“(Central Michigan) has had some personnel changes since we played first,” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "They’ve been more up-tempo recently, obviously featuring (Jarusevicius) more. He’s a handful inside … and Heady looked like Steph Curry out there.”
The high-scoring matchup saw two different playstyles early on. The Chippewas, led by the tempo-setting play of MAC Preseason Player of the Year Anthony Pritchard, battled their way into the paint. On the other end, Ohio was scoring almost solely on 3-point plays led early by Mitchell.
Mitchell had 14 of his 18 points in the first half. His shot-making early kept Ohio in the game as Central Michigan looked to control the pace of play.
“We have a bunch of talented players on this team, and in the first half I got it going,” Mitchell said. “I just want to do whatever I can do to help this team win.”
One way the Bobcats looked to counteract the tempo-setting Chippewas was on the glass. In the previous matchup, Central Michigan won the rebounding battle by 14. This time around, Ohio lost by just one rebound, and it was the guards helping out the most.
“We’ve struggled with (rebounding) this year,” Paveletzke said. "We were just relying on our bigs to block them out, then us guards can come in and get the rebound.”
As the first half winded down, Ohio found itself in a 3-point hole. In its last three games, one of which was a loss to Kent State, Ohio has trailed at the half. The deficit has never been more than 4 points in that stretch, but it’s a worrying trend.
“My mom always told me the least important score is the halftime score,” Boals said. “That’s why it’s a 40-minute game, and obviously, you don’t want to get those deficits early … We’ve talked ad nauseam about how every possession matters.”
Ohio managed to make the most of its remaining 20 minutes, outscoring Central Michigan by 5 points, led largely by Paveletzke’s ability to get into the paint.
“It’s a big part of my game, getting paint touches, and it really helps the offense,” Paveletzke said. “Once you get into the paint, you collapse the defense, and somebody else can get open.”
Due to the numerous paint touches for both teams, the game was very foul-heavy. One player fouled out on both sides, and four other players had at least three fouls for Ohio alone. Central Michigan shot 35 free throws to Ohio’s 20 and made 27 of them.
“It’s difficult because what’s a foul and what’s not a foul?” Boals said. “That’s the biggest thing, and as a coach, all you want is consistency. Sometimes, they’d drive in there and it was a foul, we’d do the same thing and it wasn’t a foul.”
Ohio managed to fight through the disparity to a much-needed win, getting back into the victory column before a crucial home matchup against the MAC’s undefeated leader Akron. The Bobcats will rematch the Zips on national television in The Convo Saturday.
“We’re going to do everything we can leading up to the game and get ready for a war,” Mitchell said.
