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THE BASICS
Score: Morehead State 77, Ohio 72
Location: Convocation Center -- Athens, Ohio
The Short Story: Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) and redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) led with 21 and 20 points, respectively, but the Ohio men's basketball team (23-12) fell to Morehead State (22-12), 77-72, in the 2016 College Basketball Invitational Semifinals on Wednesday (March 23) at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.

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

MOREHEAD STATE STARTERS: #3 Corban Collins, #10 Anthony Elechi, #22 Xavier Moon, #31 Lyonell Gaines, #32 Brent Arrington

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats shot 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field while going 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc. Ohio held Morehead State to 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field -- including 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from three-point range. The Eagles edged the Bobcats in the statistical battle with advantages in offensive rebounds (11-5), bench points (15-4), and points off turnovers (15-9).
• Simmons went 4-of-11 from the field -- including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc -- while also knocking down 12-of-13 free throw attempts. He also posted a game-high seven assists, six rebounds and a steal in 40 minutes.
• Setty recorded 20 points off of 6-of-10 shooting from the field while converting on 7-of-10 from the free throw stripe in his final game as a Bobcat. He also grabbed five rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes.
• Redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio) added 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting -- including 5-of-10 from behind the arc. He also snatched two rebounds and tallied an assist in 33 minutes.
• Junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished with eight points courtesy of a 4-of-11 effort from the field. He also tallied a team-high 12 rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 23 minutes.
• The Eagles were led by an 18-point performance by junior guard Xavier Moon. Moon shot 4-of-8 from the field and 2-for-5 from beyond the arc while knocking down 8-of-8 free throw attempts. He also grabbed three boards in 29 minutes.
• Redshirt senior forward Lionel Gaines netted 14 points going 6-of-13 from the field for Morehead State. He also snatched a game-high 13 rebounds, two assists and a steal in 37 minutes.
• Redshirt junior guard Corbin Collins tallied 14 points to go along with two rebounds, two assists, and three steals in 35 minutes for Morehead State.
• Redshirt senior guard Brett Arrington shot 3-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line to finish with 11 points for the Eagles. He also chipped in three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Redshirt senior guard Brett Arrington shot 3-of-6 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line to finish with 11 points for the Eagles. He also chipped in three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• The Bobcats found the twine first when Simmons from the top of the key floated a pass over the Eagle defender finding Campbell, who dipped his shoulder and went up and under, finishing with the right hand off the glass to give Ohio a 2-0 lead with 18:40 left in the first half.
• After falling behind 7-2 to Morehead State, the Bobcats turned to their lone senior to get them back in the lead. After hitting a jumper on the previous possession, Setty hit the offensive glass, snatching a Campbell miss and then pumping twice before going up taking the contact from the Eagle defender and finishing the layup. He converted the and-one opportunity at the charity stripe giving Ohio a 10-9 lead with 14:23 remaining in the opening half.
• Neither team would make a bucket for the next five minutes as the only scoring between the two squads was at the free throw line. Ohio made the most of its opportunities at the line converting on all four of its shots handing the Bobcats a 14-11 advantage with 9:44 left in the first half.
• The Eagles would not stay down for long as they went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-14 lead with 6:30 to go in the opening half as they were able to force multiple Bobcat turnovers.
• With Morehead State pushing its lead to 25-17, the Bobcats would yet again look to Setty to get them back into the game. With 2:04 on the clock, he drove to the hoop off the right wing, hung in the air and banked the floater off the glass to cut the deficit to 25-19.
• With under a minute left in the first half and the shot clock running down, the ball found the hands of Kaminski on the right wing, and he knocked down a three from three feet beyond the arc to make it 29-24 with 31 seconds left in the first half. The Eagles took that five-point advantage heading into the locker room.
• Simmons look to set the tone on the first possession of the second half as he went left off a high ball screen from Campbell getting to the rim and laying it off the glass. Kaminski's hot stroke continued into the second half as on the very next possession Simmons found him on the left wing and he drilled his third three of the game to tie the game at 29 all with 19:02 left in the game.
• After a slow shooting start for both teams in the first half, the Bobcats and Eagles came out hot to start the second half. In the first four minutes, the teams shot over 50 percent combined as they traded blows back and forth, but it was the Eagles who held a slight 36-35 advantage heading into the first media timeout with 15:58 left in the second half.
• Both teams continued to trade leads. Every time the Bobcats would hit a three the Eagles camee right back down and hit one of their own. At one point from the 12:40-11:40 mark in the second half, the two teams knocked down four shots from behind the arc as Morehead State held a slim 49-48 lead at the end of the barrage.
• With the Eagles having to come out and guard the perimeter, the Bobcats were able to throw it down low to Campbell who hit back to back buckets from the block to give Ohio a 54-51 lead with 8:40 remaining in the game.
• With the game knotted at 56-all, a drive by Simmons freed up Kaminski on the deep right wing, and he knocked down the three to give Ohio the 59-56 edge with 5:10 remaining in the second half.
• The Eagles refused to go away as a 9-2 run gave them a 65-61 lead with 3:13 left to play.
• Determined not to make it the last game of his career, Setty knocked down two free throws to tie the game back up at 65-all with 2:10 left in the game.
• Less than a minute later, Morehead State pushed the lead back up to 70-65 as it knocked down a deep three from the right wing and on the next possession hit two free throws.
• Down seven with under a minute to play, Simmons drove to the free throw line and found a wide-open Kaminski, who hit his fifth three of the game to cut the deficit to 72-68 with 42.9 seconds left in the game.
• After two made free throws by the Eagles, Simmons drove the lane getting fouled with 33 seconds on the clock. He once again knocked down a pair to cut it to 74-70.
• The next possession, Dartis cut it to a one-possession game as he nailed both attempts from the line to make it 75-72 with 17 seconds left after racing up the court and getting to the rim.
• Morehead State went down on the next possession and knocked down a pair of freebies of its own to extend to the lead to 77-72. The Bobcats were unable to hit on a Dartis three-point attempt on the other end, and the Eagles dribbled out the rest of the clock to advance to the CBI finals.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• The 2015-16 Ohio squad matched the 1998-99 team for the biggest turnaround in program history. The Bobcats improved by 13 wins under second-year head coach Saul Phillips after posting just 10 victories in 2014-15. After the 1997-98 squad went 5-21, the '98-99 team finished 18-10.
• The 2015-16 Bobcats matched the 1982-83 team for the sixth-most wins in a single season in program history.
• Ohio, making its 22nd postseason appearance in program history, is now 17-23 (.425) all-time in national postseason play. The Bobcats are 3-2 (.600) all-time in CBI play. Ohio is now 6-3 (.667) all-time in national postseason games played at the Convo.
• Ohio finshed the year 16-3 (.842) at home in 2015-16. The Bobcats tied the program record for most home wins in a single season.
• Simmons logged double-digit points in each of the last 10 games and 26 times this season and led the team in scoring 12 times. He scored at least 20 points 11 times this year. The 2016 Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection selection finished with at least five assists in a game for 32 times this year and led the team in assists 33 times. His 275 assists in 2015-16 go down as both a program and conference record.  
• Setty notched his ninth-straight double-digit scoring effort, 23rd of the year and 25th of his career. He tallied at least 20 points four times this year.
• Kaminski achieved double figures in scoring for the 19th time this year.
• Campbell notched double-digit rebounds for a team-high 20th time this year and 31st time in his career. The 2016 MAC Player of the Year led the team in rebounding a team-high 29 times. 

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on the season and coaching redshirt senior forward Treg Setty
"I want to say thanks to this group for such a fun year. I want to say goodbye to Treg. There is nothing you can say other than he left it all on the floor in the CBI. Guys take journeys in their careers and then there's the journey that Treg took. It was all over the place and it went to places that I'm sure he never imagined, but through it all his passion for the game, his raw emotion at times always made him fun to coach. I've have a lot of respect for that guy."

Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty on what he'll remember most from his time at Ohio
"I could write a book about the things that I appreciate here at Ohio. Everything changed when coach Phillips got here for the better, but even before that the people never changed. They were all very nice to me and good to me. They are all kindhearted fans. It has been such a blessing. I just couldn't imagine being a part of what I was a part of here at Ohio."

Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons on his success this season
"On the court, I learned where every single teammate where they want the ball and what they can and can't do. I know every play, every position, and where they need to be. I learned how to be more of a floor leader. This year I played up and up minutes, so I'm more experienced. The game slowed down for me a lot. Next year I want to be an even better leader and better point guard than I was this year. Hopefully, that means I'll take us to bigger things."

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