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THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 79, Northern Illinois 62
Location: Quicken Loans Arena -- Cleveland, Ohio
The Short Story: Led by a 21-point performance from Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio), the No. 2-seeded Ohio men's basketball team (21-10) advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Mid-American Conference Tournament with a 79-62 win over No. 7-seeded Northern Illinois (21-12) on Thursday (March 10) in a quarterfinals matchup at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Bobcats will play No. 3-seeded Buffalo (18-14), who knocked off No. 11-seeded Miami by a score of 94-81 in the quarterfinals, on Friday (March 11). The game will tip-off a half hour following the 6:30 p.m. ET semifinal matchup between No. 1-seeded Akron and No. 12-seeded Bowling Green. The contest can be viewed on Time Warner Sports Network, Buckeye Cable Sports Network and ESPN3. Michael Reghi, Dave Cecutti and Marisa Contipelli will have the call.

Ohio swept the regular season series over Buffalo, rolling to a 94-75 victory on Feb. 12 in Amherst, N.Y., then surviving the Bulls in overtime, 103-96, on Feb. 27 at the Convocation Center in Athens.

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

NORTHERN ILLINOIS STARTERS: #0 Marshawn Wilson, #5 Travon Baker, #15 Jaylen Key, #23 Aaric Armstead, #34 Marin Maric



HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the field and 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from three-point land -- including a 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) mark in the second half. Ohio shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the free throw line.
• Ohio limited the Huskies to 36.1 percent (22-of-61) shooting from the field. Northern Illinois put up a 33.3 percent (9-of-27) mark from three-point range. The Huskies shot 45 percent (9-of-20) at the charity stripe.
• Ohio outrebounded Northern Illinois by a 39-37 margin and dished out 18 assists while the Huskies managed 12. The Bobcats outscored the Huskies in the paint 26-22 and held a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers.
• Campbell finished with 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The junior forward also added eight rebounds, a career-high tying five blocks, one assist and one steal in 30 minutes for the Bobcats.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) recorded 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and dished out a game-high 11 assists to go along with three rebounds in 39 minutes of work.
• Redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio) tallied 17 points and shot 5-of-8 from three-point range in his 25 minutes. He also handed out two assists and grabbed two rebounds.
• Freshman guard Jordan Dartis (Newark, Ohio) scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 35 minutes.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) contributed 10 points, four boards, an assist, a block and a steal in 27 minutes.
• Freshman guard/forward Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) tied for the team-high with a career-high eight rebounds while tallying four points and dishing out two assists in 26 minutes.
• Northern Illinois was led by a 22-point effort by freshman guard Marshawn Wilson, who went 8-of-14 from the field. He also was 4-of-8 from three-point range, grabbed two rebounds and tallied one assist in 20 minutes.
• Freshman wing Levi Bradley scored 10 points off the bench for the Huskies, knocking down a pair of threes while grabbing three rebounds and handing out a team-high three assists in 23 minutes.
• Redshirt sophomore center Marin Maric tallied seven points while hauling in a team-high eight rebounds in 26 minutes.
• Campbell grabbed two rebounds and scored Ohio's first points in the first three possessions of the game. Ohio jumped out to a 23-16 lead with 11:09 remaining in the half, with Kaminski scoring nine early points and Campbell adding six points with four boards.
• The Bobcats traded jabs with the Huskies but jumped out to their largest lead of the half at 36-27 with 2:46 remaining half on a step-back triple by Simmons, who tallied five assists in the opening frame.
• Ohio entered halftime with a 36-27 lead, holding the Huskies scoreless for the final 5:07 of the half.
• Campbell led all scorers with 11 points at the half while Simmons added 10 and Kaminski pitched in nine.
• The Bobcats burst out of the gate in the second half, using a 12-4 run to take 48-32 lead with 17:02 left in the second half. Ohio shot 5-of-6 from the field during the run with a pair of baskets by Campbell along with triples by Kaminski and Dartis.
• Ohio extended its lead to 59-35 at the 13:08 mark of the second half, with Campbell scoring six-straight points and Kaminski scoring the next five on a triple and a pair of free throws.
• The Huskies narrowed the Ohio lead to 71-56 with 4:48 left in the contest on a three by Wilson, but triples from Dartis and Setty along with a hoop by Simmons pushed the Bobcat lead back to 21 with 1:31 remaining in the contest.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio matched the 1963-64 and 2004-05 teams for the 10th-most wins in a single season in program history.
• Since starting MAC play 2-4, Ohio has won 10 of its last 13 games.
• The Bobcats are now 40-28 (.588) all-time in MAC Tournament play.
• Ohio advances to the MAC Tournament Semifinals for the 16th time in program history and first time since 2013.
• The 'Cats are now 1-1 (.500) all-time under second-year head coach Saul Phillips in MAC Tournament play.
• The Bobcats are now 33-18 (.647) all-time against Northern Illinois -- including 1-1 (.500) in the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals. Ohio won the season series against the Huskies, 2-1. The 'Cats dropped their 2016 MAC opener at Northern Illinois, 80-69, on Jan. 6 in DeKalb, Ill., but bounced back to beat the Huskies, 80-69, on Feb. 6 at the Convocation Center in Athens.
• Ohio drained at least 10 treys in a game for the 12th time in 2015-16.
• The Bobcats are now 16-3 (.842) when leading at the half in 2015-16.
• Campbell recorded his team-high 12th 20-point effort of the season and 13th of his career. He finished in double figures in scoring for a team-high 26th time this year and 46th time in his career. He led the team in scoring for a team-high 14th time this season. Campbell has made at least 10 field goals in a game eight times this year.
• Kaminski achieved double figures in scoring for the 17th time this year. He has made at least five three-point field goals in a game six times this season.
• Simmons finished with a double-double for the sixth time this year. He has logged double-digit points 22 times and double-digit assists five times this season. He finished with at least five assists in a game for the 28th time this year and led the team in assists for the 29th time.
• Setty notched his 19th double-digit scoring effort of the year and 21st of his career while Dartis finished in double figures for the 12th time this season.

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on the victory
"Puppies, walks in the park, March wins...those are all of my favorite things. We survived, we advanced. The biggest takeaway for me is I thought we came out and we looked poised. We looked poised on the tournament stage. We talked about that a great deal, but you can talk, talk, talk, talk; these guys got to go out and do it. Bottom line is you win, you get to rest up quick. We're going to utilize every ounce of the 24 hours that we have to get ready and to get these guys ready to go for whomever we may face."

Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons on what separates him from other guards in the MAC
"I don't know. I just try to be me. I just try to be me every day, try to score the ball when I need to score, try to assist my teammates when I need to do that."

Junior forward Antonio Campbell on the team's mindset
"Just playing confident. Us as a team, we've been playing pretty confident the last 13, 14 games. We had a week off, got in the gym, got shots up, made a game plan for NIU, executed it and practiced, so now we got the win."

#BleedGreen