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THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 75, Tennessee State 67
Location: Convocation Center - Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: With breakout games from freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) and freshman guard/forward Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) and a near flawless performance from the free throw line, the Ohio men's basketball team (2-0) won its second game of the season with a 75-67 victory over Tennessee State (1-1) on Monday (Nov. 16) in front of 5,854 fans at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

OHIO STARTERS: #0 Treg Setty, #2 Jaaron Simmons, #11 Khari Harley, #13 Kenny Kaminski, #33 Antonio Campbell

TENNESSEE STATE STARTERS: #5 Tahjere McCall, #11 Demontez Loman, #15 Keron DeShields, #20 Johnny Woodard, #42 Christian Griggs-Williams

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Ohio shot 23-of-56 (41.1 percent) from the field -- including 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc.
• The Bobcats made the most of their opportunities at the charity stripe, converting on 19-of-20 attempts.
• Ohio limited Tennessee State to 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) shooting from the field.
• Dartis led all Ohio scorers with a career-high 17 points -- including 15 from behind the arc -- in 25 minutes off of the bench. He also led the team with a career-high three steals while hauling in a career-high three rebounds and an assist.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) tallied 15 points while leading the team with five assists. He also had three boards and a steal in 37 minutes of work.
• Block added a career-high 12 points while grabbing a career-high three boards over 20 minutes off of the bench. He also had a steal and an assist.
• Junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted 12 points for the 'Cats while snatching six rebounds. He also had two steals, two blocks, and two assists in 25 minutes of work.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty dropped in seven points with three rebounds, a block and a steal in 14 minutes.
• Redshirt junior guard Tahjere McCall led Tennessee State with 17 points -- including nine from the free throw line. He also grabbed four boards, two steals, two assists, and a block over 32 minutes.
• Redshirt junior forward Wayne Martin recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while also tallying a steal in 31 minutes off of the bench.
• Redshirt senior guard Keron DeShields added 10 points for the Tigers while grabbing six boards over 29 minutes of work. He also had three steals and three assists.
• The Tigers opened up the game on a 14-0 run as junior guard Johnny Woodard knocked down a trio of three-pointers. Simmons ended the run with a three of his own with 15:31 remaining in the first half.
• Dartis cut Ohio's deficit down to three at just 22-19 with 9:50 left in the first after knocking down three buckets from beyond the arc. Two possessions later, after a Campbell block, Simmons raced down the floor, absorbing the contact and finishing the layup. He converted the and-one opportunity to tie the game at 22-all with 9:15 remaining in the first half.
• After a 7-0 run from Tennessee State to make it 29-22 in favor of the Tigers, Simmons took the game into his own hands, knifing through the defense on back-to-back possessions to make it 29-26 with 5:59 to go in the first. Block then took over the scoring load as he went coast-to-coast after striping a Tiger player and then knocking down a three to tie the game at 31-all.
• Ohio took its first lead of the game when redshirt sophomore guard/forward Khari Harley (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) converted on both of his free throw opportunities to make it 33-31 with 3:58 left in the first half.
• The game remained close throughout the rest of the first period as neither team had a lead bigger than two points. 
• The game was tied at 37-all at halftime. Ohio was 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from the field in the first while Tennessee State was 12-of-26 (46.2 percent). The Bobcats started the game 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Ohio also took advantage of its opportunities for the free throw line converting on 10-of-12 attempts. Simmons led all scorers with 11 points in the opening frame, knocking down 4-of-5 shots from the field. Dartis provided a spark off the bench with nine points all from behind the arc.
• Campbell quickly opened up the second-half scoring for the Bobcats as he grabbed his own offensive rebound and put it back up off the glass.
• After Campbell's opening basket, the Tigers were able to slow the Bobcats' offense down. Tennessee State went on a 15-6 run before a Campbell three cut the deficit to 54-48 with 10:51 remaining in the game.
• Tennessee State briefly stretched the lead back to double-digits before a Simmons' finger roll sparked a run to cut the deficit to 59-57 with just 6:30 remaining in the game.
• A left wing three from Block made it 60-59 with 5:02 to go, giving Ohio its first lead since early in the second half. Dartis then found Campbell underneath on a fastbreak to cap off a 14-1 run for the Bobcats.
• Ohio would not relinquish the lead from there as it held the Tennessee State's offense at bay while converting on key free throws down the stretch to put the game on ice.
• The dagger came when Dartis came off a nice back screen from redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio) as Simmons found a wide open Dartis who knocked down his fifth three-pointer of the game with 1:23 remaining in the game.
• Kaminski closed the game out by knocking down a pair from the stripe to give Ohio a 75-67 victory.

BEYOND THE BOX
• Simmons had double-digit points for the second-straight game.
• For the 23rd time in his career and second time this season, Campbell finished in double figures in scoring.
• Dartis and Block both tallied the first double-digit scoring games of their careers.

QUOTABLE
Second-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips
"I've seen them do it their whole lives. If you went and talked to their high school coaches and you ask what they expected out of them their freshman year, you would have been like, 'come on'. All Gavin did was carry teams to state tournaments. All Jordan did was go up against Gahanna with those two D-I big guys and beat them. These guys have been through it, and, in both cases, they just have such an assassin's mentality, and they look like they're having fun out there. The moment doesn't seem too big for those guys, and it never has, and they've been in some pretty big moments."

Freshman Forward Gavin Block
"We came in with a lot of confidence from the coaching staff and the other players. I didn't feel any pressure out there. We were just playing ball like we have always been."

"We started attacking a little bit more. We were settling in the beginning of the second half, and we really weren't playing too good of defense. We turned it up on the defensive end and started getting stops. I'd say that was the biggest impact there."

Freshman Guard Jordan Dartis
"After the Florida Gulf Coast game we got our nerves out a little. We started playing with our own swagger out there."

"I think that I can shoot the three ball pretty well. I shot it pretty well in high school. When I finally saw one go in today, I started playing with more confidence and more just kept going in for me."

UP NEXT
The Bobcats travel to the Virgin Islands to take part in the Paradise Jam. Ohio opens up the tournament against Tulsa on Friday (Nov. 20). Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET from St. Thomas.

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