Ohio Rallies for 76-59 Win Over Men's Basketball

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Ohio hit 13 3-pointers, used a 13-0 first half run to take control of the game, then converted eight consecutive second half field goals to secure the win as it claimed a 76-59 win over the Central Michigan men's basketball team Saturday afternoon at McGuirk Arena.

Ohio (8-6 MAC, 16-11 overall) overcame a 12-0 deficit to start the game by converting 56.5 percent (13-23) of its 3-point field goals and scoring 22 points off 18 CMU turnovers. The Bobcats took advantage of 12 first half Chippewas turnovers to build a commanding 38-30 halftime lead by stringing together a 13-0 run midway through the first half.

Central Michigan entered the game on a two-game win streak after back-to-back league road victories at Miami (Ohio) and Bowling Green. In both of those games against teams at the bottom of the MAC standings, it rallied for wins after trailing by large second half deficits. It could not repeat that performance today against an upper-level Ohio team this afternoon.

"That was a culture win for Ohio," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "After we had a great start and put them down 12 points, they didn't panic. They were mature. Physically, they looked like grown men. When adversity hit us, we panicked. With our last two wins, we didn't do that against the teams in the bottom half of the league. Can you not panic against teams in the upper half of the league? It's a whole different animal and we weren't ready for that today."

"Like I told our players, 'It's one thing to beat teams in the bottom half of your league; it's another monster altogether to beat teams in the upper half of the league and teams with great cultures. We've got to be better against the top half of this league and we're not right now."

The loss drops the Chippewas to 5-9 in Mid-American Conference play and 10-17 overall. CMU remains in eighth place in the MAC. The league's top eight teams advance to the MAC Tournament in Cleveland set for March 9-11 at RocketMortgage FieldHouse.

Central Michigan was led by freshman Reggie Bass's second consecutive 20-point game as he finished with 22 points and four rebounds while hitting 3-7 3-pointers and 9-12 free throws. Senior Brian Taylor scored 16 points and added six rebounds, and sophomore Markus Harding added 12 points on 5-7 shooting.

Ohio's 13 3-pointers were the most an opponent has hit against CMU this season. AJ Clayton led Ohio with 18 points on 4-7 3-point shooting, Jaylin Hunter finished with 14 points (2-5 3FG), and Miles Brown added 12 points on 4-5 3-point shooting. The Bobcats also received an 11-point performance from DeVon Baker and 10 points and two 3-pointers from AJ Brown.

From the opening tipoff, Central Michigan stormed the floor for a commanding 12-0 lead. The run was fueled by CMU's defense as the Chippewas forced Ohio into missing its first seven shots to go along with two turnovers. Bass started the run with two free throws, Taylor hit a pull-up jumper, Pavrette scored on a layup for a 6-0 lead. Then Bass scored on back-to-back driving layups to go up 10-0 and Harding followed with a dunk for a 12-0 lead with 15:50 to play in the first half. The Chippewas led by as many 13 points (23-10) on a Taylor 3-pointer and held an 11-point on a Bass 3-pointer.

But Ohio battled back into the game with an 8-0 run when Brown and Hunter hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and Hunter followed with a fast break layup to cut the margin down to three points (26-23) at the 7:33 mark.

Trailing 28-23, Ohio took advantage of six CMU turnovers and three missed shots as it put together a back-breaking 13-0 run to take a 38-30 lead going into halftime. Hunter started the run with two free throws, Brown tied the game at 28-28 with a 3-pointer, and Wilson followed with a dunk to give Ohio its first lead in the game, 30-28 at the 4:13 mark. The Bobcats weren't finished as a CMU turnover led to a Clayton 3-pointer and another turnover led to a Brown 3-pointer and 36-28 lead with 2:25 to go in the half.

"When we were up 12, we just handed the ball to the other team," Barbee said. "We went from being up 12 points and controlling everything to being down eight at the half. Live ball turnovers kill you when you hand the ball to the other team. Ohio was able to shoot layups and open threes in transition."

With Ohio leading 40-31 at the 16:15 mark, the Bobcats hit eight consecutive shots to extend their lead to a game-high and commanding 23 points (62-39) with 11:32 to go. In the four-minute run, the Bobcats hit five 3-pointers, including two from each from AJ Brown and Clayton and one from Hunter.

For the second straight game, CMU started Pavrette at center, Hodgson at forward, and Taylor, Majerle, and Bass at guard.

"The team we have on the floor is good enough to play with the teams in the top half of this league," Barbee said. "We just have to be tougher and tougher minded when adversity hits."

Four regular season games remain for Central Michigan as the Chippewas are at Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

—CMU—

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Team Stats

Reggie Bass

Brian Taylor

Markus Harding

Nicolas Pavrette

Players Mentioned

Reggie Bass

Markus Harding

Brian Taylor