Ohio's Jaaron Simmons and Jordan Dartis lead Ohio past Northern Illinois.
At one point, it was official Ray Perone’s game.
Ohio surrendered its 16-point halftime lead and had more fouls (seven) than points (six) midway through the second half. It seemed like the Bobcats were playing against the referee's whistles rather than the visiting Huskies.
Suddenly, though, it became guard Jaaron Simmons’ game.
Down 63-59 with under four minutes to play, Simmons ignited an 8-0 run to help Ohio defeat Northern Illinois 80-69 Saturday.
Simmons hit a 3-pointer at 3:24 mark before assisting Jordan Dartis on a 3-pointer with three minute to go, and from there, the Bobcats never looked back. The Convo was as loud as its ever been.
Simmons finished with 24 points and 12 assists — his fifth double-double of the season. Dartis had 17 points on 4-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc.
"The other night I wrote in my thankfulness journal that I was thankful for Jaaron Simmons, Jaaron Simmons' court vision, Jaaron Simmons' toughness,” Phillips said. “Recently, I went through a whole list of things that I love about Jaaron. Great programs have great point guards. We have a great point guard I'd pay to watch him play. I don't have to; actually, they pay me to watch him play. It's a heck of a deal.”
Phillips said Simmons was the quintessential leader Saturday and that Saturday’s game was the first time the Bobcats (15-8, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) were kicked in the teeth and responded positively.
The Bobcats were victims of some questionable calls of Perone’s crew including touch fouls being called on forward Antonio Campbell and Kenny Kaminski. The Bobcats and Huskies had a combined 43 fouls Saturday.
Regardless, Simmons kept Ohio’s afloat with attacks to the rim and three 3-pointers.
“What went through my mind was previous games were (Ohio has given up big leads) like Tulsa, Bowling Green where we had double-digit lead,” Simmons said. “When we pulled it out and tried to stall the clock, we were playing not to lose and I feel like we have to play to win.”
The Huskies attacked the Bobcats interior defense and lack of weakside help in the second half, as Northern Illinois only shot just six 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Northern Illinois shot just 2-for-15 from beyond the arc and continued its four-game losing streak.
Aaric Armstead led the Huskies with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Northern Illinois took advantage of Ohio’s foul trouble, as Phillips leaned on Simmons' masterful work around the perimeter and the Bobcats' 3-point shooting.
“It’s hard to win against a team that can make 10 threes and they made nine of them,” Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery said.
In the first half, Ohio shot 60 percent from the floor, as Dartis scored 14 of his 17 points. Ohio had its second-largest scoring in the first half outing with 49 points.
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Treg Setty finished with 12 points, Campbell finished with 11 and Kaminski had nine points.
Ohio lead for 32 minutes in Saturday's win.
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
