When redshirt sophomore wing AJ Brown went down in the first half last Saturday, it was a punch to the gut for an already-depleted Ohio team. Ohio had dealt with injuries to key pieces all year, including a season-ending ankle injury to junior forward and starter Aidan Hadaway in January.
“It’s (injuries) part of the game, right?” Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. “Ultimately, it’s been a big part of our game throughout the course of the season. I don’t think there’s another team in our league that’s gone through what we’ve gone through.”
For Brown, injuries have been a consistent limiter throughout his three years. Brown was given a medical redshirt for the 2023-24 season after tearing his labrum nine games in. Brown was listed 2024-25 Preseason All-Mid-American Conference Second Team despite his limited time, and making it most of the way through the season unscathed, Brown looked likely to earn that honor.
Through 29 games, Brown was putting up career numbers with 13.2 points per game, 1.9 3-pointers made and 1.3 steals while shooting career-bests in all regards. Brown’s two-way impact was sorely missed in the team’s 83-79 loss to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, in which Ohio struggled to play tough and make shots, two of Brown’s biggest strengths.
“He’s obviously a threat every time he touches the ball, from 3, driving the basketball and he has length defensively,” Boals said. “We definitely missed him.”
Ohio started both halves underwhelming on both ends of the ball, digging an early hole to climb out of, which ultimately led to never holding a lead. Whether it was the pressure of senior day or the additional attention from Brown’s absence on the court, graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell struggled to get going offensively, starting 0-of-9 from the field.
Mitchell had a great game defensively and was prolific at the free-throw line, but too often, it seemed as if the Bobcats were missing one more player to make and hunt shots. Brown’s most explosive outings came in that regard, heating up quickly and early before turning into an automatic bucket-getting machine for full halves.
“The start of each half was probably the difference in the game,” Boals said. “We went down 9-2 in the first four minutes, battled back to tie, and then in the second half, the first four minutes, it was 13-8.”
Additionally, Ohio could have used another body defensively. While Mitchell and senior forward AJ Clayton did their job limiting All-MAC shoe-ins Jalen Terry and Da’Sean Nelson to inefficient nights, Ohio’s lack of size between its star seniors proved to be an issue defensively.
Lacking length and toughness, Ohio conceded 23 points to guard Christian Henry, as well as efficient nights to wing Arne Osojnik and center Yusuf Jihad. Ohio’s starting lineup without Brown consists of four players six feet, three inches or shorter, with 6-foot-1 guard Ajay Sheldon as one of the team’s primary reserves.
“Defensively, we had too many errors,” Junior guard Jackson Paveletzke said. “Terry and Nelson didn’t really beat us, it was the role guys.”
It’s still undetermined if Brown will return. Boals said following the game there was no update on his status, and alluded to Brown’s return being a possibility for the MAC Tournament, but regardless, Ohio isn’t going to make excuses.
“That loss is on us regardless of who’s playing and who’s not,” Mitchell said. “We can’t focus on our players being down. We’ve still got games to play; we’ve still got a MAC Tournament that we want to win.”
As Cleveland closes in, with just one day left in the season, Boals and his players may be left with a team that stands as a far cry from the preseason No. 1 team in the MAC, but with or without Brown, is one they believe can win the conference.
“If AJ comes back, he comes back; if not, we have to figure it out and find a way,” Boals said.
