Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF)

THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 79, Ball State 73
Location: Convocation Center â€" Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: Junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) combined for 48 points and 24 rebounds as the Ohio men's basketball team (10-4, 1-1 MAC) won its first conference game of 2016 in an 79-73 victory over Ball State (10-5, 1-1 MAC) in its 2016 Mid-American Conference home opener on Saturday (Jan. 9) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats matched their win total from the entire 2014-15 season with the victory.

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

BALL STATE STARTERS: #0 Francis Kiapway, #1 Naiel Smith, #12 Bo Calhoun, #33 Ryan Weber, #41 Trey Moses 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats overcame a tough first half in which the Bobcats shot 34.6 percent (9-of-26) and entered halftime trailing the Cardinals by six at 39-33. Ohio bounced back in the second half, shooting 50.0 percent (15-of-30) from the field. The Green & White took advantage of its 31 trips to the charity stripe, converting 25 free throws (80.6 percent). The Bobcats outrebounded the Cardinals, 40-29, in addition to leading the way in points in the paint (34-28), points off turnovers (16-10) and second chance points (17-5).
• Campbell set a new career-high with a game-high 27 points off of 8-of-15 shooting -- including a career-best 4-of-6 from three-point land. He also went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Campbell also hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with two steals and a block in 34 minutes.
• Simmons also added a double-double for the Bobcats with 21 points and a career-high 11 rebounds over 39 minutes. He also notched a game-high six assists and a steal against just two turnovers and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) scored 11 points and added two rebounds in 30 minutes.
• Freshman guard Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) added seven points and a steal in 18 minutes off of the bench while freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) added six points and two rebounds in 30 minutes.
• Sophomore guard Francis Kiapway led the Cardinals with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting -- including 6-of-8 from the perimeter. He also added four rebounds, three steals and one assist in 36 minutes.
• Junior guard/forward Ryan Weber tallied 11 points and swiped one steal in 31 minutes for Ball State
• Senior forward Bo Calhoun scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out an assist in 26 minutes for the Cardinals.
• Freshman forward/center Trey Moses scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting while hauling in four rebounds with one block in 20 minutes for Ball State.
• Redshirt senior guard Jeremiah Davis grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to pair with seven points and three assists in 27 minutes off of the bench for the Cardina.s.
• The Bobcats jumped out to an early 13-7 lead at the 12:37 mark of the first half with Campbell hitting a pair of triples to open the scoring for the Bobcats while Setty, redshirt sophomore guard Khari Harley (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.), Dartis and Simmons also added points.
• It was a one-score game for much of the first half until the Cardinals went on an 8-0 run to build a 34-26 lead with 1:36 remaining in the opening half. The run began on a layup by Moses and was extended on threes by Davis and Kiapway.
• Four points by Simmons and a triple by Block closed the Ball State lead to three with 35 seconds left in the first, but Calhoun sent the Cardinals to the locker room with a 39-33 lead on a triple from the corner with three seconds left on the clock.
• Campbell led all scorers at the half with 10 points to go along with five rebounds.
• The Bobcats opened the second half on a 6-0 run on an old-fashioned three-point play by Campbell and a trey from Dartis to tie the game at 39-all.
• Ohio went on a 13-3 run to build a 64-54 lead with 8:12 remaining in the game. Campbell accounted for 10 points on the run with a pair of triples, two free throws and a layup.
• Ball State cut the Ohio lead to as few as four with 20 seconds remaining, but the Bobcats sealed the victory with late free throws to complete a victory in which they outscored the Cardinals 46-34 in the second half.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio posted its sixth-straight win over Ball State and eighth in the last nine meetings with the Cardinals. The Bobcats are now 45-34 (.570) all-time against Ball State.
• Junior forward Antonio Campbell set a new career high with 27 points. He sank a career-high four three-point field goals. He reached double figures in scoring for the 11th time this year and 32nd time in his career, surpassed the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season and fifth time in his career and led the team in scoring for the fourth time this year. Campbell's 13 rebounds gave him his seventh double-double of the season and 16th of his career. He recorded double-digit boards for the seventh time this year and 18th time in his career and led the team in rebounding for the 10th time this season.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons posted double-digit points for the 11th time this year and surpassed the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season. His career-high 11 rebounds gave him his third double-double of the season as he recorded double-digit boards for the first time in his career. Simmons led the team in assists for the 14th time this year. He has tallied five or more assists in 13 of Ohio's 14 games in 2015-16.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty reached double figures in scoring for the fifth-straight game, eighth time this season and 11th time in his career.

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on the win
"That was a good college basketball game all the way around. I thought it was two teams playing extremely hard and I think two teams that've probably come as far as you can come in the amount of time that we've had. I've got a lot of respect for what they've done. In talking to them before the game, I think we had similar journeys to get to this point last season. I thought the game changed at halftime when we decided to be a little more aggressive."

Junior forward Antonio Campbell on the team's offensive success in the second half
"We became more aggressive (in the second half). We started attacking the rim more, spread the floor, use vert-ball screens to free Jaaron up and get down in the paint and make some plays." 

Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons on protecting home court
"It's big because we always want to defend the home floor. We never want to lose at home. Starting 0-2, that would've really hurt. But, we didn't really lose a lot of confidence. I told you we were going to bounce back and not turn one loss into two, and that's what we did." 

UP NEXT
The Bobcats play host to their first MAC East Division rival of the 2016 league season next Tuesday (Jan. 12) as Bowling Green visits the Convocation Center for a 7 p.m. ET tilt that will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel. The Falcons dropped a 79-67 decision to West Division foe Central Michigan on Saturday.

#BleedGreen