THE BASICS

Score: Western Michigan 82, Ohio 74

Location: University Arena - Kalamazoo, Mich.

The Short Story: The No. 11-seeded Ohio men's basketball team (10-20) could not keep its halftime lead intact, falling to No. 6-seeded Western Michigan (20-12), 82-74, in a 2015 Mid-American Conference Tournament First Round game on Monday (March 9) at University Arena in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The loss ended Ohio's 2014-15 season. Western Michigan will face No. 7-seeded Akron on Wednesday (March 11) in the second round of the league tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #22 Stevie Taylor, #33 Antonio Campbell

WESTERN MICHIGAN STARTERS: #2 Connar Tava, #5 David Brown, #22 Austin Richie, #32 Taylor Perry, #42 Drake LaMont

HOW IT HAPPENED

- Ohio shot 44.8 (26-of-58) from the field -- including 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from three-point range. The Bobcats outscored the Broncos in the paint, 36-16.

- Western Michigan was 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the field -- including 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from beyond the arc.

- Both teams shot the ball well from the free throw line. The Bobcats were 75 percent (15-of-20) while the Broncos were 81.5 percent (22-of-27) from the charity stripe.

- Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) led the Bobcats with 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to tally his second-straight double-double. The two-time Second Team All-MAC pick went 9-of-11 from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with at least 25 points for the third-straight game and at least 20 points for the fourth time in the last five games. He also finished with a game-high three blocks -- marking the 12th time this season he's posted at least three blocks.

- Senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) added a career-high 25 points along with five assists. He shot 9-of-19 from the field.

- Senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) scored nine points with a game-high six assists to go along with six boards and two steals.

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds and added five points.

- Western Michigan was led by graduate guard David Brown, who scored a game-high 34 points and matched junior forward Connar Tava for the team lead with seven rebounds. He shot 9-of-17 from the field -- including 8-of-14 from three-point range. Brown also sank eight of his nine free throw attempts

- Freshman guard Thomas Wilder added 18 points, a team-high five assists and four rebounds off of the bench for the Broncos. He went 6-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.

- Senior guard Austin Richie scored nine points and grabbed three boards for Western Michigan while redshirt sophomore forward Kellen McCormick posted eight points, a rebound and a block off of the bench.

- The Bobcats jumped out to an 18-4 advantage at the 12:42 mark of the first half on the back of three consecutive treys by Ndour, Campbell and Taylor to open the game. Taylor tallied nine points over the first seven-plus minutes.

- Western Michigan countered, though, by outscoring the Bobcats by a 27-15 count over the final 12-plus minutes of the half, forcing Ohio to take just a two-point advantage into halftime at 33-31.

- Ohio shot 38.7 percent from the field in the first half -- including 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from behind the arc. Taylor led the Bobcats with 14 first half points while Ndour added 12 points and seven rebounds.

- Western Michigan was 33.3 percent (11-of-33) from the field while shooting 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from deep. Brown led the Broncos with 13 points in the opening stanza.

- Ohio stretched its lead to 52-44 with just under 13 minutes to go thanks in large part to a three and two free throws by Taylor, a three by Willis, a layup and two free throws by Ndour and a layup by Campbell.

- The Broncos struck back again, though, scoring 10 unanswered points to take their first lead of the contest at 54-52 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Two threes by Brown tied it up, then two free throws by the Second Team All-MAC pick put Western Michigan in front.

- The ensuring five minutes featured five more ties, but the Broncos outscored the Bobcats 20-12 down the stretch to seal the come-from-behind victory. Wilder did much of the damage over the final five-plus minutes, as the MAC All-Freshman Team selection totaled 10 points.

- Ohio fell despite shooting 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the second half and receiving 16 more points from Ndour and 11 more from Taylor.

- Western Michigan went 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field -- including 60 percent (6-of-10) from three-point range -- in the second half. The Broncos also converted 19 of their 22 free throw attempts over the final 20 minutes. Brown scored 21 points in the second half and was 5-of-6 from the perimeter.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Ndour scored in double figures for a team-leading 26th time this season and 52nd time in his career. He tallied a team-high 10th double-double and finished with double digit rebounds for the 11th time this season and 17th time in his career. Ndour tallied his eighth 20-point game of the year and 17th of his career and led the Bobcats in scoring for the 10th time this season. His 68 blocks in 2014-15 rank as the seventh-most in a single season in school history while his 123 career blocks go down as the sixth-most in program history, eclipsing 121 piled up by John Rhodes (1985-88).

- Taylor surpassed the 20-point benchmark for first time this year and third time in his career. He posted double digit points for the 10th time this season and 25th time in his career. He distributed at least five assists in a game for the sixth time this year. Taylor finished his career ranking fifth in school history with 137 games played.

- Campbell reached double figures in rebounds for the 11th time this season and led the Bobcats in rebounding for the 13th time this year.

- Willis led Ohio in assists for a team-high 16th time this year. He dished out at least five assists in a game for the eighth time this season. The All-MAC Honorable Mention finished with 87 three-point field goals made this year, matching Nick Kellogg (2013-14) for the seventh-most in a single season in school history.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

"One thing that makes this part of the year so fun and special is to watch guys who don't want to be done lay everything out there. All of the seniors out there, but in particular Brown, Maurice (Ndour) and Stevie. They didn't want to be done."

Senior Guard Stevie Taylor

"I just kind of knew what time it was. What (former Ohio) Coach (John) Groce told me freshman year is that the season is broken up into three different seasons. I knew this was a new season, a new start for me, and I just wanted to leave it out there for my guys, my coaches and for the school. That's all I wanted to do."

Senior Forward Maurice Ndour

"I think our guys, they figured out that this time of the year we don't have anything to lose, so just go out there and play hard. And, that's what we did. We would've loved to go to Cleveland, but that's not happening."

#SaulBall