With few fans in the stands and a blowout win on the horizon, Ohio could’ve coasted to an easy victory against Cleveland State on Sunday. But instead of losing interest, the Bobcats focused up and played one of the most dominant stretches in college basketball history.
Highlighted by a record-breaking 40-0 run in the second half, Ohio destroyed the Vikings 101-46 at The Convo. You could see the pride bleed through Ohio coach Jeff Boals’ mask postgame.
“I’m really proud of our guys for bringing the energy and effort level for 40 minutes,” Boals said. “Even at halftime, we talked about being a mature team and being a discipline team.”
Ohio (3-1) was led by breakout performances by Lunden McDay (20 points) and Dwight Wilson III (18 points, 14 rebounds), but it was a team effort throughout. Five Bobcats were in double-digits, and Ohio got 39 points off the bench in its first 100-plus point game since 2018.
The Bobcats refused to let Cleveland State (0-2) hang around. Even with a near empty Convo, Wilson made sure to bring the energy for the Bobcats. Wilson cemented himself as a force in the paint early.
Ohio had nine days off after dropping a nailbiter to Illinois. Even though the Bobcats took one of the best teams in the country to the wire, there was a ton of room for improvement. The Fighting Illini outrebounded the Bobcats 45-25 in Ohio’s loss. The Bobcats outrebounded the Vikings 50-24 on Sunday, and that played into Ohio’s 51-25 lead at the half.
Cleveland State showed at times last season that it can come back and stay competitive. The Bobcats weren’t phased by their 26-point lead, they wanted to embrace the adjustments and play even better in the second half.
“It was a maturity thing,” Wilson said. “We hadn’t won the game yet. We still had to go out there, be mature, still lock up, keep our foot on the pedal and kill their confidence so we can go ahead and win the game and not be in a dogfight.”
Ohio broke the pedal in the second half.
From 1:41 remaining in the first half to the 8:03 mark in the second half, Cleveland State did not score a point. The Bobcats scored a few, 40 in fact.
The 40-0 run set the NCAA record for largest run between two Division I programs. What’s most impressive was that Boals was able to sub in alternates such as Sam Towns, Mark Sears and Miles Brown and still lock down the Vikings.
“To go on a big run like that, a lot of things need to happen,” Boals said. “When the going’s good you can’t be rah rah. You have to handle prosperity and understand why you got the stops you got.”
Besides a few possessions here or there, their was little to no criticism for the Bobcats’ performance. Ohio played sound basketball on both ends of the court and shared the ball. Boals said he would use this film to remind his team of the potential it can play at.
