THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 76, Miami 64
Location: Convocation Center -- Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: Junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) led the Ohio men's basketball team (18-8, 9-5 MAC) past archrival Miami (9-18, 3-11 MAC), 76-64, on Saturday (Feb. 20) in a 'Battle of the Bricks' showdown at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

The Bobcats have now won five in a row, seven of their last eight and eight of their last 10. 

OHIO STARTERS: #0 Treg Setty, #2 Jaaron Simmons, #22 Gavin Block, #33 Antonio Campbell, #35 Jordan Dartis

MIAMI STARTERS: #2 Rod Mills, #20 Dion Wade, #24 Chris Bryant, #30 Abdoulaye Harouna, #33 Eric Washington



HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats shot 50.0 percent (25-of-50) from the field while going 8-of-23 (34.8 percent) from behind the arc. Ohio held Miami to 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field -- including 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from three-point range. The Bobcats edged the RedHawks in the statistical battle with advantages in rebounds (35-26) and points in the paint (30-22).
• Campbell hauled in a career and game-high 20 rebounds. He went 5-of-10 from the field and 5-for-9 from the free throw line to finish with 16 points. He also added two assists in 36 minutes of work.
• Simmons recorded 25 points off of 8-of-9 shooting from the field - including 3-of-4 from three-point land. He also notched four assists, two rebounds and a steal in 32 minutes.
• Freshman guard/forward Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) added 14 points. He knocked down a pair of treys and converted on 6-of-6 free throw attempts. He also recorded three assists while grabbing a rebound in 36 minutes.
• Freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) recorded eight points off of 3-of-8 shooting from the field -- including 2-of-6 from three-point land. He also tallied four assists, a career-high six rebounds and a game-high three steals to match his career high in 39 minutes.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) finished with seven points and collected a rebound and two assists in 33 minutes.
• The RedHawks were led by a 16 and 15-point performances by sophomore guards Dion Wade and Abdoulaye Harouna, respectively. Wade shot 6-of-10 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc while grabbing a team-high seven boards and two steals to go along with an assist in 37 minutes. Harouna went 4-of-9 from the field - including 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also had three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 35 minutes.
• Redshirt Senior guard Eric Washington tallied nine points to go along with a game-high eight assists. He also totaled five rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes for Miami.
• Following a Miami three pointer, the Bobcats threw it down low to Campbell as he backed down his defender and floated in a baseline hook shot for the first Ohio points of the game.
• The Bobcats rode the hot start of Block to a 17-0 run making it 19-5 with 10:58 to go in the first half. Block knocked down a three from each corner as the freshman tallied eight early on. Ohio locked down Miami defensively as the Redhawks went 0-of-5 from the field and turned the ball over twice.
• The pace of the game slowed as Ohio then had to unlock the Miami 2-3 zone. The Bobcats were able to find pockets in the zone as Campbell and Setty went to work inside. The RedHawks then collapsed on the post, freeing up Simmons who sunk a left-wing three to give Ohio a 31-16 advantage with 3:14 remaining in the first half.
• Ohio's success against the zone forced Miami to switch to a man-to-man which allowed up Simmons to go to work. The Bobcat point guard knifed through the defense for layups on back-to-back possessions. Simmons, the nation's third leading assist man, found sophomore guard Mike Laster (Detroit, Mich.) alone under the basket, who laid it in just before half. The Bobcats took a 41-24 lead into the locker room.
• Simmons remained aggressive to begin the second half as he drove to the basket and laid it up and in on the first possession of the final 20 minutes of play, giving Ohio a 43-24 lead with 19:26 to go in the game.
• With the RedHawks switching back to a zone, the Bobcats looked to hammer them down low as Campbell, Laster and Setty each found their way to the rim as Ohio extended its lead to 51-31 with 14:23 left in regulation.
• Miami did not go away quietly, though, going on a 23-3 run over the ensuing five-plus minutes to cut the Ohio lead to 54-49 with 8:02 to go as Wade drained a pair of threes and Harouna hit two of three at the charity stripe after being fouled on a three-point attempt and then sank a trey a minute later to make it a five-point game.
• Dartis drilled a big left-wing three to put the Bobcats up 57-49 with 6:48 left in the game.
• A layup by Campbell and another Dartis bomb -- this time from the right wing -- pushed the Bobcats' lead back to double digits at 11 at 62-51 with 4:56 remaining.
• The Bobcats took care of business at the charity stripe, particularly down the final stretch to seal the victory. Ohio made nine of its final 12 free throw attempts over the final 4:12 to ice the win -- including four makes by Simmons. The 'Cats finished the game shooting 78.3 percent (18-of-23) from the line.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio's 18 wins -- including nine MAC victories -- are its most under second-year head coach Saul Phillips. The Bobcats finished with 10 wins overall and five in conference play in 2014-15.
• The Bobcats have won five straight MAC games for the first time since the 2013 conference season.
• Ohio improved to 13-2 (.867) at home this season.
• The Bobcats have won three straight games and five of its last seven by double digits.
• Ohio has limited the opposition to 75 points or less in each of the last five games.
• The Bobcats improved to 105-92 (.533) all-time against archrival Miami. Ohio has taken nine of the last 10 fom the RedHawks -- including four straight at home.
• Ohio's eight made treys increased the Bobcats' season total to 212, which ranks as the 11th-most in a single season in program history.
• Campbell became the first Bobcat to haul in 20 boards in a game since Reggie Keely did so at Akron on Feb. 14, 2010. He recorded his fourth-straight double-double, team-high 14th of the year and 23rd of his career. He tallied double-digit points for a team-high 23rd time this season and 43rd time in his career. He totaled double-digit rebounds for a team-high 15th time this year and 26th time in his career. He led the team in rebounding for a team-high 21st time this season.
• Simmons recorded at least 20 points in a game for the seventh time this year. He tallied double-digit points for the 17th time this season. He led the team in scoring for the eighth time this year. Simmons' four assists increased his season total to a team-high 199 helpers on the year, which matches Dennis Whitaker (1987-88) for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. 
• Block, who made his second career start, finished in double figures in scoring for the sixth time this season.

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on the peformance by redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons
"He had a look in his eye. My dad even pointed it out. He had a look in his eye yesterday and today. The kid is a winner. He comes from a championship program and here you have some bait hanging out there in front of him. He's a kid that the bigger the situation the more he'll rise to it. If you were taking bets that he will lead this team to an NCAA Tournament at some point or not, I wouldn't bet against it."

Phillips on the game plan against Miami
"In a game that Miami was facing some major constraints, it shrunk the game down. It was a lower possession game. In the first half we scored 41 points on 28 possessions which is a really high number, and it felt like we weren't doing anything. It's hard to cause separation when a team goes that deep in the shot clock, and it's exactly what they needed to do, and I figured they would do it."

UP NEXT
Ohio hits the road for a matchup with MAC East Division rival Bowling Green (13-14, 4-10 MAC) next Tuesday (Feb. 23) at the Stroh Center. Tip time is slated for 7 p.m. ET. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3. The Falcons have dropped seven in a row -- including an 88-74 setback to Buffalo on Saturday in Amherst, N.Y. Ohio fell to Bowling Green, 91-75, in Athens on Jan. 12, 2016, in the first meeting of the season between the two squads.

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