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OXFORD, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (17-12, 9-7 MAC) returned to action on Saturday, Feb. 25, falling to Miami (11-18, 5-11), 85-68, inside Millett Hall. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 38.1 percent from the field, 35 percent from three and 61.9 percent from the line, while Miami shot 60.8 percent from the field, 52.6 percent from three and 81.3 percent from the line. Miami out-rebounded Ohio 36-25 and dished out 14 assists to Ohio's nine. Ohio forced 21 Miami turnovers, but only scored 18 points off them. 
 
Individually, Ohio was led by graduate student forward Dwight Wilson III (Tallahassee, Fla.) with 19 points and eight rebounds, while junior Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) added 19 points, three rebounds and three assists. Senior Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added nine points and senior Ben Roderick (Powell, Ohio) added seven points and three rebounds. 
 
Ohio won the tip, but Miami got on the board first with a jumper. The Bobcats responded with a layup and a free throw from Wilson III. Both teams then traded baskets until a Miami three put the RedHawks up 7-5. After a three from freshman Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) tied the game at 9-9, a jumper from Miami gave them an 11-9 lead going into the first media timeout. Out of the timeout, Ohio went on a 7-0 run with jumpers from Hunter and Miles Brown and a three from Hunter, putting Ohio up, 16-11 Miami then responded with a 9-0 run to that a four-point lead with 11:03 left in the half. 
 
A three-point play from Wilson III and a steal and layup form Hunter, put the Bobcats up one, before Miami went back up four. Moments later, free throws from Hunter cut the Ohio deficit to two with 7:50 left in the half. After free throws from Miles Brown and freshman AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) cut the Ohio deficit to one, a Miami three put the RedHawks up four. After AJ Brown and the RedHawks traded jumpers, two-straight threes from Miles Brown and Hunter tied the game at 34-34 going into the final media timeout. 
 
Out of the timeout, Miami took a six-point lead, however free throws from Hunter and Miles Brown and a layup from Wilson III cut the Ohio deficit to two, sending the game to the locker room with Ohio trailing, 40-38. 
 
At the half, Ohio shot 35.3 percent from the field, 44.4 percent from three and 58.8 from the line, while Miami shot 57.1 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 75 percent from the line, Miami outrebounded Ohio, 18-17, while the Bobcats forced 10 turnovers and scored 12 points off them. 
 
Individually, Hunter led with 14 points, followed by Wilson III with eight points and six rebounds. 
 
Miami opened the second half with the first four points before a free throw from Miles Brown stopped the run. After a layup from Wilson III cut the deficit to three, Miami went on to take an eight-point lead. However, a layup and a three from Roderick moments later, cut the score to 49-46 with 15:32 left in the game.  After Ohio cut the lead to one, Miami went on a 6-0 run to take a 54-48 lead with 11:46 remaining in the game. After Ohio cut the deficit to four with a layup from Hunter and a three-point play from Wilson III, Miami responded with a three to take a 60-53 lead with 9:47 left in the game. 
 
After a layup from Wilson III cut the Ohio deficit to five, Miami responded with one of their own, however, Hunter followed that with a deep three to cut the deficit to four, however, Miami was able to extend the lead to 54-58 with 7:22 left. Out of the timeout, Miami went up 10 before a three from James cut the lead to three. After Miami responded with their own three, a layup from Wilson III cut the lead to 71-63 with the Bobcats calling a 30 second timeout with 5:31 left in the game. 
 
The Bobcats offense was never able to generate much to make a run over the final minutes, with Ohio falling, 81-65. 
 
For Miami, Mekhi Lairy scored 26 points, followed by Morgan Safford with 24. 
 
Up next, the Bobcats are back on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 28 for its final regular season road game when they take on Kent State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. 
 
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