Final Stats

THE BASICS
Score: Ohio 67, Miami 65
Location: Millett Hall -- Oxford, Ohio
The Short Story: The Ohio men's basketball team (20-10, 11-7 MAC) hung on in its 2015-16 regular season finale to edge Mid-American Conference East Division archrival Miami (12-19, 6-12 MAC), 67-65, on Friday (March 4) in a 'Battle of the Bricks' matchup at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio.

Thanks to the win and Western Michigan knocking off MAC West Division rival Central Michigan, 91-82, in overtime on Friday, the Bobcats locked up the No. 2 seed and a bye to Cleveland for the 2016 MAC Tournament presented by VisitMyrtleBeach.com. Ohio will take on the winner of the MAC Tournament First Round matchup between No. 7 Northern Illinois (20-11, 9-9 MAC) and No. 10 Western Michigan (13-18, 7-11 MAC) -- which will take place next Monday (March 7) in DeKalb, Ill. -- in a 6:30 p.m. ET quarterfinal matchup next Thursday (March 10) at Quicken Loans Arena.

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

MIAMI STARTERS: #0 Geovonie McKnight, #21 Kalif Wright, #22 Willie Moore, #24 Chris Bryant, #33 Eric Washington

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Bobcats shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three-point land -- including 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) in the first half. The RedHawks shot just 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from beyond the arc.
• Ohio received another double-double from junior forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio), who scored a game-high 25 points and hauled in a game-high 13 boards to go along with two assists, a block and a steal over 38 minutes. He went 11-of-20 from the field -- including 2-of-4 from three-point range.
• Freshman guard/forward Gavin Block (Lincoln, Ill.) scored 16 points off of the bench -- 14 of which came in the first half -- on 6-of-9 shooting -- including a 2-for-3 effort from three-point land. He also tallied three rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Jaaron Simmons (Dayton, Ohio) recorded 12 points and a team-high eight assists to go along with three rebounds in 35 minutes of work.
• Redshirt senior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) contributed 11 points, seven boards and an assist in 33 minutes.
• Miami was led by a 22-point effort by senior guard Geovonie McKnight, who went 9-of-16 from the field. He also totaled a game-high three blocks in addition to three rebounds in 37 minutes.
• Redshirt senior guard Eric Washington achieved a double-double for the RedHawks with 10 points and a game-high 10 assists. He also grabbed six rebounds and collected three steals in 38 minutes.
• Senior forward Chris Bryant tallied 10 points off of 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. He also notched four rebounds, a block and a steal in 26 minutes.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Dion Wade hauled in a team-high eight rebounds off of the bench and totaled two steals in 20 minutes of work.
• Ohio built a 14-point lead over the first five-plus minutes of the first half, utilizing treys by redshirt junior forward Kenny Kaminski (Medina, Ohio), Setty and Block. Campbell added six points during the stretch while Block also hit two jumpers, with the second giving the Bobcats a 22-8 lead with just over 12 minutes to go.
• The Bobcats' advantage swelled to a half-high 18 points with just under nine minutes remaining in the opening 20 minutes of play. Another jumper and a layup by Block and a layup by Setty made it a 28-10 lead for Ohio.
• Miami countered with a late surge to make it a six-point game at the half, outscoring Ohio by a 24-12 count over the final nine-plus minutes. The RedHawks comeback was sparked by nine points by McKnight, six by sophomore guard Abdoulaye Harouna, five by Washington and four by senior guard Willie Moore during the rally, cutting Ohio’s lead to 40-34 at the half.
• Ohio built its lead back up to 12 points at 50-38 with just over 15 minutes to play. Campbell powered the Bobcat charge with a trey, a tip-in basket and a layup while Setty made it a 12-point game when he converted on a conventional three-point play.
• The RedHawks got back in the game again, though, by rendering Ohio scoreless over the ensuing five minutes while making in a three-point game at 50-47 with 10:38 left after a pair of free throws by McKnight, a conventional three-point play by senior forward Kalif Wright, a layup by Bryant and jumper by sophomore forward Rod Mills.
• Campbell ended Ohio's offensive drought when he made jumper with just over 10 minutes to go. A pair of free throws by Block made it a seven-point game with just over nine minutes remaining. The RedHawks, responded, though, cutting Ohio's lead down to two twice over the next two-plus minutes -- on a trey by McKnight and then again on a layup by McKnight two minutes later.
• Back-to-back jumpers by Campbell made it a six-point game in favor of the Bobcats at 62-56 with 5:20 to play, but Miami retaliated once again, going on a 9-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 65-64 lead with 1:44 to go. The RedHawks used four made free throws by Bryant, a three by Washington and a layup by McKnight to take just their first lead of the contest. 
• Ohio evened the score at 65-all when Simmons sank the second of two free throw attempts after drawing a foul with 1:41 to play. After the Bobcats got the ball back after a turnover by Washington with 1:17 remaining, Simmons made a layup with 1:08 to go to put Ohio back in front for good. Washington got off a desperation three-point attempt with two seconds left on the clock, but his try was off the mark, sealing the win for the Bobcats.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
• Ohio secured its first 20-win season since 2013-14, seventh in the last 12 years and 16th in program history.
• Second-year head coach Saul Phillips notched his first 20-win season at Ohio and fourth in his nine-year head coaching career.
• After coming away with just 10 victories in 2014-15, the Bobcats find themselves tied for the fourth-biggest turnaround in the nation with a 10-win improvement this year.
• Since starting MAC play 2-4, Ohio has won 9 of its last 12 games.
• Ohio is now 106-92 (.535) all-time from Miami and has taken 10 of the last 11 meetings from the RedHawks -- including three straight overall and four of the last five in Oxford.
• 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 25th time this year and 45th time in his career and totaled double-digit boards for the team-high 17th time this season and 28th time in his career. Campbell achieved his team-high 15th double-double of the year and 24th of his career. He led the team in scoring for a team-high 13th time this season and in rebounding for a team-high 25th time this year.
• Block finished in double figures in scoring for the seventh time this season.
• Simmons finished in double figures in scoring for the fifth game in a row and 21st time this year. He led the team in assists for a team-high 28th time this season and has handed out at least five helpers in all but three games this year. His 231 assists in 2015-16 rank as the third-most in a single season in program history.
• Setty reached double digits in scoring for the fourth game in a row, 18th time this year and 21st time in his career.

QUOTABLE
Second-year head coach Saul Phillips on his team's success in 2015-16
"It’s a really tough group that really doesn’t care who gets it done, and really just wants to win for the sake of winning the game. There are things this team soaks up so quickly that I do marvel at. They take to coaching very quickly. Smart teams are fun to coach, and I got a smart team."

Junior forward Antonio Campbell on team earning a trip to Cleveland for the 2016 MAC Tournament
"It gave me chills. It felt like we won the championship or something. I’m anxious now. I don’t care when we play, where we play or who we play. I’m just ready to play."

#BleedGreen