Final Stats

THE BASICS
Score: Northern Illinois 80, Ohio 69
Location: Convocation Center â€" DeKalb, Ill.
The Short Story: The Ohio men's basketball team (9-4, 0-1 MAC) saw its five-game winning streak snapped in an 80-69 loss to Northern Illinois (12-2, 1-0 MAC) in its 2016 Mid-American Conference opener on Wednesday (Jan. 6) at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill. 

OHIO STARTERS: #0 Treg Setty, #2 Jaaron Simmons, #13 Kenny Kaminski, #33 Antonio Campbell, #35 Jordan Dartis

NORTHERN ILLINOIS STARTERS: #5 Travon Baker, #15 Jaylen Key, #23 Aaric Armstead, #24 Michael Orris, #34 Marin Maric

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Wednesday's contest featured 18 lead changes and 10 ties. The Huskies shot 50.0 percent (22-of-44) from the field -- including 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from three-point range -- while limiting the Bobcats to 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the field -- including 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from beyond the arc. The two teams combined to shoot 61 free throws, with Ohio converting at a 79.2 percent rate (19-of-24) and the Huskies making 70.3 percent (26-of-37) of their freebies. Northern Illinois won the battle of the boards, 42-27.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) led the Bobcats with 19 points and four assists in 35 minutes. He shot 7-of-14 from the field and a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Simmons also hauled in three rebounds and collected two steals.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) and redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio) each tallied 15 points. Setty went 5-of-9 from the field -- including 2-of-3 from three-point range. He also went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Setty also grabbed two rebounds and tallied a steal over 25 minutes. Kaminski made four field field goals -- including two treys -- in addition to going 5-of-6 from the free throw line. He also grabbed three rebounds in 36 minutes. 
• Junior forward Wadly Mompremier (Miami, Fla.) posted a team-high eight rebounds to go along with six points and a block in 22 minutes of work off of the bench.
• Senior guard Travon Baker led all scorers with 25 points for Northern Illinois, going 4-of-8 from the field -- including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc -- in addition to converting 14-of-15 free throw attempts. He also finished with four assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
• Redshirt sophomore center Marin Maric achieved a double-double for the Huskies with 22 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and 6-of-11 from the free throw line. He also recorded two assists, a block and a steal in 31 minutes.
• Junior guard Aaric Armstead went 5-of-8 from the field to finish with 14 points and just missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds for Northern Illinois. He also handed out three assists in 39 minutes.
• Freshman guard Laytwan Porter nearly notched a double-double off the bench for the Huskies, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. He also recorded two assists, a block and a steal.
• Freshman guard Laytwan Porter nearly notched a double-double off the bench for the Huskies, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes. He also recorded two assists, a block and a steal.
• Northern Illinois built its lead up to a half-high four points at 19-15 with 11:47 to go in the first half, using a pair of threes, a layup and a free throw by Armstead, a trey and a layup by Maric and a three by Porter.
• Ohio countered with a 9-0 run over the ensuing two minutes gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game at five at 24-19, with a four-point play by freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) and a layup by freshman power forward Doug Taylor (Columbus, Ohio) highlighting the stretch.
• The Huskies utilitzed a trey by Baker and a jumper by Maric to tie the contest at 24-all two minutes later. Neither team was able to build up a lead of more than three for the remainder of the half, and Northern Illinois took a 37-35 lead into halftime. Armstead and Maric each finished with 11 points in the first half to lead the Huskies while Simmons led Ohio with eight points.
• The opening six-plus minutes of the second half featured four more lead changes until the Huskies put together a 5-1 stretch to take a 52-48 lead with 12:35 to go. A conventional three-point play by redshirt senior wing Chuks Iroegbu helped put Northern Illinois back in front.
• Ohio took a one-point lead at 53-52 with 10:40 to go thanks to freshman guard/forward Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) sinking a pair of free throws and Setty nailing a three.
• Unfortunately for the Bobcats, Northern Illinois outscored the Bobcats by a 28-16 count over the final nine-plus minutes of the contest to seal the win, with Baker finishing with 11 points and Maric finishing with nine during the final stretch for the Huskies.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio fell to 31-18 (.633) all-time against Northern Illinois.
• Simmons logged double digits in scoring for the second game in a row and 10th time this year. He led the Bobcats in assists for a team-high 13th time while leading Ohio in scoring for a team-high fifth time.
• Setty reached double figures in scoring for a fourth-straight game, seventh time this year and 10th time in his career.
• Kaminski finished in double figures in scoring for the seventh time this season.
• Mompremier led the Bobcats in rebounding for the second time this year.

UP NEXT
The Bobcats welcome MAC West Division foe Ball State (10-4, 1-0 MAC) to the Convocation Center in Athens on Saturday (Jan. 9) for their league home opener. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. The Cardinals opened 2016 MAC play with an 87-69 win over Toledo on Wednesday in Muncie, Ind.

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