Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |  Photo Gallery 

THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 103, Buffalo 96
Location: Convocation Center -- Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: On the back of career-high point totals for redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) and redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio), the Ohio men's basketball team (19-9, 10-6 MAC) picked up a huge 103-96 overtime victory over Mid-American Conference East Division rival Buffalo (16-13, 9-7 MAC) on Saturday (Feb. 27) in the 2015-16 regular season home finale at the Convocation Center.

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

BUFFALO STARTERS: #0 Blake Hamilton, #1 Lamonte Bearden, #2 Willie Conner, #4 David Kadri, #10 Jarryn Skeete

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the field -- including 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from three-point land. The Bulls shot 45.2 percent (33-of-73) from the field -- including 30.4 percent (7-of-23).
• Simmons led the Bobcats with a career-high 31 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 13-of-15 from the charity stripe. He also tallied eight assists and grabbed one rebound and one steal in 45 minutes.
• Setty notched his own career-high on Senior Day with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-11 from the free throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds in addition to tallying an assist and a block in 30 minutes.
• Redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio) went 7-of-18 from the field to finish with 22 points. He also shot 5-of-14 from behind the arc and recorded five rebounds and one steal in 39 minutes.
• Junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored six points, grabbed nine rebounds and tallied a career-high five blocks in 34 minutes.
• Junior wing Willie Conner led Buffalo with 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field -- including a 3-of-6 effort from three-point range. He also grabbed two rebounds and one steal in 43 minutes.
• Buffalo junior wing Blake Hamilton went 7-of-13 from the field to score 22 points to pair with a game-high 11 rebounds. He also totaled three blocks, three assists and a steal in 36 minutes.
• Sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden recorded 14 points to go along with a team-high four assists in addition to a block and a steal in 36 minutes.
• Buffalo jumped out to a 20-12 lead at the 11:58 mark of the first half. Simmons had all 12 of Ohio's points to open the game. The first Bobcat other than Simmons to make a basket was Setty, who cut Buffalo's lead to six at 20-14 at the 10:15 mark with a layup.
• Trailing 35-30 with 4:23 remaining in the first half, Ohio went on a 10-0 run that featured a pair of threes by Kaminski to give the Bobcats a 40-35 lead with 2:41 left in the opening frame.
• Ohio went into the break with a 48-42 lead with Simmons leading all players with 20 points at the break. Setty added 14 points with seven rebounds while Kaminski was also in double figures with 11 points.
• Buffalo surged to a 54-51 lead with 15:23 remaining in the second half on the back of a 13-0 run with Hamilton contributing seven points and Bearden adding five during the stretch.
• Buffalo extended its lead to as much as 10, but a converted and-one opportunity by Kaminski pulled the Bobcats within 70-67 with 8:17 left to play in the contest.
• The Bulls outscored Ohio by a 15-13 count over the ensuing five-plus minutes to take a five-point advantage at 85-80, but the Bobcats tied the game at 85-all with 1:04 left as freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) sunk a three from the corner. Both Ohio and Buffalo couldn't break the stalemate in the final minute, sending the game to overtime.
• Hamilton opened the scoring in the extra period with a layup, but Kaminski answered on the other end with a triple to give Ohio an 89-88 lead. Kaminski added two more free throws, but Buffalo tied the game again at 90-all with a conventional three-point play by freshman forward Nick Perkins. With the game tied at 93-all, Dartis sank another triple from the corner to give Ohio a 96-93 lead with 1:31 remaining in overtime. The Bobcats sustained their lead on seven made free throws to emerge victorious in overtime. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio has now won at least 19 games for the 10th time in the last 12 years and has achieved double-digit conference victories for the fourth time in the last five years.
• With the win, Ohio remains in the No. 2 spot in the overall MAC standings and one game back of league-leader Akron.
• Ohio now leads the all-time series against Buffalo, 31-10 (.756). The Bobcats swept the 2016 regular season series after knocking off the Bulls by a 94-75 score on Feb. 27, 2016, at Alumni Arena in Amherst, N.Y.
• The Bobcats finished the regular season with a record of 14-2 (.875) at the Convocation Center.
• Ohio eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 18, 2010, when they amassed 107 points against St. Bonaventure. The Bobcats have scored at least 90 points four times this season and have eclipshed the 80-point mark 15 times.  
• The Bobcats won in overtime at the Convo for the first time since a 95-90 win over Toledo on Dec. 18, 2014.
• Simmons recorded at least 20 points in a game for the third game in a row and ninth time this year. He has posted at least 30 points in a game twice this year. He has recorded double figures in scoring 19 times this season. Simmons has led the team in assists a team-high 26 times this year. He has logged at least five assists in all but three games this season. His 216 assists this season surpassed the 211 D.J. Cooper distributed in 2011-12 for the fourth-most in a single season in program history.
• Setty scored at least 20 points for the third time in his career and reached double figures in scoring for the 16th time this year and 19th time in his career.
• Kaminski tallied at least 20 points for the sixth time this season and has reached double digits in scoring for the 15th time this year.

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on the win
"What an emotional, great college game. It's that time of year, and it really doesn't take much to see how much this game meant to both sides. I thought both teams made huge plays, both were absolutely hell bent on getting to the rim and it resulted in kind of a blood bath foul-wise."

Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty on the win
"That was a storybook ending to my career, right there. It'd be one thing to come out and win on a blowout where it was real easy for us, but that wasn't an easy win. It took a 15 of us. It took every bit of effort that we had. For us to win that way, especially this late in the season is big time. That's really important. Last night, I went to bed and I said a prayer that it would just work out, and it definitely worked out and then some."

Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons
"We stuck together. I always have said we've got a close-knit team and that's exactly what we were. Our bench was involved in the game, our coaches were giving us energy and the players on the court. We never gave up."

UP NEXT
Ohio travels to northeast Ohio for a MAC East clash against rival Akron at James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday (March 1) at 8 p.m. ET in a game that will have major implications on the chase for the 2016 conference regular season title. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and American Sports Network. The Bobcats dropped an 80-68 decision to the Zips in Athens on Feb. 2.

#BleedGreen