THE BASICS

Score: Miami 77, Ohio 66

Location: Millett Hall - Oxford, Ohio

The Short Story: The Ohio men's basketball team (9-14, 4-8 MAC) was unable to capitalize on building a halftime lead in its first `Battle of the Bricks' matchup of the 2015 Mid-American Conference season, falling to East Division archrival Miami (9-16, 4-8 MAC), 77-66, on Saturday (Feb. 14) at Millett Hall.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #11 Khari Harley, #14 Ryan Taylor, #33 Antonio Campbell  

MIAMI STARTERS: #0 Geovonie McKnight, #3 Will Sullivan, #11 Logan McLane, #24 Chris Bryant, #33 Eric Washington

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- Ohio built a 41-38 halftime lead after shooting 50 percent from the field (17-of-34) in the opening 20 minutes. 

- Miami answered the challenge in the second half, however, outscoring the Bobcats, 39-25. The RedHawks turned seven second-half turnovers by Ohio into 13 points. Miami finished the game with 23 points off of 12 Ohio turnovers.

- Miami shot 58.3 percent from the field (14-of-24) in the final 20 minutes of play. The RedHawks held Ohio to 40 percent (10-of-25) in the second half.

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Ohio with a double-double, scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting -- including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc --  in addition to hauling in a game-high 10 rebounds. He also tallied a game-high two blocks, dished out an assist and collected a steal.

- Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) added 14 points off of 6-of-14 shooting. He also handed out three assists, grabbed three rebounds and recorded a steal.

- Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) totaled 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists, a game-high two steals and a block.

- Senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) contributed eight points, three assists, a rebound and a steal off of the bench.

- Redshirt freshman guard/forward Khari Harley (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) and freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) each contributed seven points. Harley also totaled three assists, a rebound and a steal. His seven points and three assists 

- Junior guard Geovonie McKnight and junior guard Eric Washington each tallied 17 points to lead Miami. McKnight grabbed a team-high six rebounds, collected a game-high three steals and recorded a block. Washington handed out a game-high seven assists, totaled three boards and posted a block.

- Senior guard Will Sullivan chipped in 15 points, four rebounds and a block for the RedHawks.

- Freshman guard Zach McCormick scored 10 points and grabbed a rebound off of the bench for Miami.

- The Bobcats built a 14-point lead over the opening 10 minutes of the contest, using seven points apiece by Willis and Harley and six points by Ndour to jump out to a 27-13 lead.

- The RedHawks responded, though, with a 25-14 stretch to close out the half, punctuated by a layup by Washington as time expired. Sullivan and Washington sparked the rally, with 10 points and seven points, respectively, over the final nine-plus minutes of the opening half.

- Miami took its first lead of the game less than a minute into the second half, using a jumper by Chris Bryant and a layup by Willie Moore to take a 42-41 lead with 19:20 to play. - The Bobcats answered with a trey by Ndour and tip-in by Campbell, giving Ohio a 46-43 lead with just over 17 minutes to go.

- Unfortunately for Ohio, that's as big of a lead it had for the remainder of the game, as the RedHawks put together a 29-13 stretch to take a 75-59 lead with just over four minutes left.

- Campbell put together a 5-0 run with a three and a layup to cut Miami's lead to 11 at 75-64 with just over two minutes to play, but that's as close as Ohio got. 

- McKnight provided the RedHawks with their second-half spark, totaling 13 points. McCormick scored all 10 of his points over the final 20 minutes of action.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Campbell recorded his sixth double-double of 2014-15, reached double figures in scoring for the 12th time this season and 17th time in his career, posted double-digit rebounds for the seventh time this year, led the squad in scoring for the third time this season and led the team in rebounding for the ninth time this year.

- Willis reached double figures in scoring for the 15th time this season and 27th time in his career while Ndour posted double digits for a team-high 19th time this year and 45th time in his career.
- Harley made his first career start for Ohio.

- Miami honored the legacy of its late former student-athlete and head coach Charlie Coles by retiring his number 10 in a halftime ceremony.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "The game turned on our ability to get back in transition. The game turned on our inability to take care of the basketball. The game turned on us not being able to contain their dribblers. What was disturbing to me about it was you're in a hostile environment in a rivalry game, things start going bad, I would rather see guys trying to pick each other up. I don't know if that was always the case tonight. That's disappointing."

- "I do want to say that we do acknowledge, as an institution and as a coach and as a team, we want to acknowledge all the contributions (late Miami head coach) Charlie (Coles) made to the MAC. I didn't know him personally, but I can say this: coaching is a big fraternity, and I never heard one person say anything negative about Charlie, and I never heard anything but that he was a classy, likable guy. That's a pretty cool legacy. Forget the fact that he went to a Sweet 16. That's a pretty cool legacy. Again, I want to just acknowledge the fact that he was a pretty special and vibrant person for this league."

Sophomore Forward Antonio Campbell  

- "They (Miami) turned their pressure up, and we didn't take it the right way. "

Redshirt Freshman Guard/Forward Khari Harley 

- They got real aggressive with their press. They kind of took it back a little bit, tried to press a little bit at half court to pressure us, and I think it got them on a little run in the second half."

Dolores Coles, Wife Of Late Miami Head Coach Charlie Coles 

- "I know Charlie loved you (Ohio fans) the best. He hated you the best, but he loved you the best."

UP NEXT

Ohio journeys to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on West Division foe Western Michigan -- the reigning MAC Tournament champions -- next Wednesday (Feb. 18). The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

#SaulBall