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Champaign, Ill. –  After months of waiting and anticipation, the Ohio men's basketball team (1-0) tipped-off the 2020-21 season Wednesday evening (Nov. 25), defeating Chicago State (0-1), 84-61, inside State Farm Center on the campus of Illinois. 

"Our goal after today was to be 1-0 and obviously we did that," second-year head coach Jeff Boals said. "I thought we did a lot of really good things. Shooting 58 percent from the field and 42 percent from three. But there's a lot of things that we can get better at. Rebounding, free throws and I thought we had some careless turnovers. But we got some valuable minutes for the freshmen and new guys and they're going to continue to get better and better game-by-game." 

Overall, Ohio shot 58.3 percent from the field, 42.1 percent from three-point range and 60.6 percent from the free throw line, while Chicago State shot 35.1 percent from the field, 20.0 percent from three and 85 percent from the free throw line. The Bobcats out-rebounded the Cougars, 33-27, while Ohio dished out 15 assists to their nine. 

Individually, sophomore guard Lunden McDay (Akron, Ohio) led the way with 15 points, going 4-of-7 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Junior guard Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) finished with 11 points, going 5-of-9 form the field. While grabbing six rebounds and dishing out a team-high eight assists in 30 minutes on the court. Redshirt junior forward Ben Vander Plas (Ripon, Wis.) finished with 11 points, going 4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from three and 2-for-3 from the free throw line. Senior forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) added 10 points and seven rebounds in his Bobcat debut. 

For Chicago State, Lou Demuth led with 12 points and six rebounds, followed by Jordan Polynice with 11 points. 

Chicago State won the tip and got the first points of the game before sophomore forward Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) drained his first three of the season to give the Bobcats and early lead. The Bobcats then took a 7-4 lead after back-to-back points from Wilson III and junior guard Jason Preston (Orlando, Fla.) helping the Bobcats take a 7-6 lead into the first media timeout. 

Out of the timeout, Chicago State took a 9-7 lead, but a layup and a free throw from Vander Plas gave the Bobcats the lead back. After Chicago State cut the lead back to one, back-to-back threes from McDay put the Bobcats up 18-11 with 11:58 left in the half. 

Then, with Ohio leading only by three, the Bobcats went on an 8-1 run to take a 10-point lead with 6:46 left in the half. After a free throw from Wilson III and a three from sophomore Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) gave Ohio a 30-19 lead, Chicago State cut the lead back to nine with 4:15 left. 

A three from Preston sparked the Bobcats once again, helping Ohio take a 41-29 lead going into the half. 

At the half, Ohio shot 56 percent from the field, 41.7 percent from three-point range and 51.7 percent from the free throw line, while Chicago State shot 30.3 percent from the field, 21.4 percent from three and 75 percent from the free throw line. Ohio out-rebounded the Cougars, 19-15 and dished out eight assists to their four. 

Individually, McDay led the Bobcats at the half with eight points, while Wilson III, Preston and Brown added seven points each. 

A the start of the second half, the Bobcats went on a 5-0 run to take a 46-29 lead and force Chicago State to call a timeout early. A layup and free throw out of the timeout put Ohio up 20 before a Chicago State layup stopped the run. However, the got the points back with threes from McDay and Vander Plas, putting Ohio up 55-31 entering the under-16 media timeout.

The Bobcats kept adding on, with freshman guard Jalen White (Pasadena, Texas) draining his first career three with 12:59 left to give the Bobcats a 62-33 lead. The Bobcats and Cougars traded baskets over the next six minutes, with the Bobcats taking a 70-44 lead going into the under-eight media timeout. 

Chicago State went on a 9-0 run out of the media timeout, before two free throws from freshman guard Mark Sears (Muscle Shoals, Ala.) stopped the run to give Ohio a 78-55 lead going into the final media timeout. The Bobcats continued to add on after the final media, going on to secure the 84-61 victory. 

Up next, the Bobcats continue play at the Illinois MTE when Ohio takes on North Carolina A&T (0-1). Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. ET.

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