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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (11-10, 5-4 MAC) returned to the Convocation Center Tuesday night (Jan. 30), taking down Buffalo (2-18, 1-7 MAC) 91-70. It was a team win for Ohio with ten Bobcats recording at least one point. 

Overall, Ohio shot 45.1 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from three and were 16-of-17 from the line, while Buffalo shot 37.3 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from three and were 10-of-14 from the line. The Bobcats outrebounded the Bulls 47-38, while dishing out 16 assists and forced 12 Buffalo turnovers, scoring 22 points off them. 

Individually, junior forward AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) led Ohio with 16 points and added three rebounds. Sophomore guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) had a career-high with 15 points, while adding two rebounds and an assist. Graduate student guard Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) added 15 points, while collecting five rebounds and picking up three assists. Fifth year guard Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) had 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Senior guard Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) had a well-rounded game with ten points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals. 

Mitchell got the Bobcats on the board first, making a jump shot in the lane in the early minutes. The Bulls took an early 10-7 advantage heading into first media timeout. Out of the timeout, Sheldon connected from beyond the arc twice in a matter of moments to give Ohio their first lead of the night. 

Coming out of the second media timeout, Mitchell buried a three-pointer from the top of the key. A slashing layup by sophomore guard Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) and a transition layup from redshirt sophomore forward Ike Cornish (Baltimore, Md.) extended the Bobcat lead. 

Baskets from James and Mitchell extended the lead to ten for the first time of the night. A steal from Clayton led to a quick give-and-go with Hunter ending with an emphatic alley-oop from Clayton in transition. Another Mitchell layup gave Ohio a 15-2 run before the final media timeout of the half. 

Senior center Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.) scored his first basket of the night in traffic down low and backed it up on the other end of the court with an impressive block. Sophomore Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) collected a pass from Hunter and slammed it home between two Bull defenders with just over a minute left in the half. A three-pointer from Hunter helped provide the Bobcats a 41-26 lead at the break. 

At the half, Ohio shot 47.4 percent from the field, 38.5 percent from three, and did not attempt a free throw. On the other end of the court, Buffalo shot 32.4 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from three and were 2-of-3 from the line. Ohio led the rebound margin 23-21 and forced six Buffalo turnovers, scoring eight points off them. 

Individually, Mitchell led the way for the Bobcats with 11 points, while Hunter added seven with five rebounds and four assists. 

The Bobcats got off to a hot start in the second half with Clayton finishing back-to-back alley-oops from Brown and Hunter. Clayton added two free throws to give Ohio its first points from the line of the night and extend the lead to 14. Hunter found Clayton with a lob from out of bounds to give him his fourth alley-oop of the night. Clayton continued to have the hot-hand, knocking down a pair of threes, sending the Convo crowd into a frenzy. 

After another Buffalo turnover, Sheldon collected the ball in transition. The guard went up-and-under, finishing the play while being fouled. He knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play. On the next play, a steal from Mitchell led to a putback from Sheldon, giving Ohio a 21-point lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. 

Coming out of the break, Cornish hit a three pointer, shortly followed by two threes from Brown to add to Ohio's momentum. The Bobcats took a 19-point lead into the under-eight timeout. Ohio found themselves in transition once again coming out of the break, with Hadaway finishing a lob from Mitchell. 

Ohio was able to maintain its lead in the closing minutes. The final buzzer rang with the score of 91-70, giving Ohio its fourth consecutive double-digit home win.  

For Buffalo, Sy Chatman led all scorers with 22 points, with five rebounds, and five assists while Jonnivi Smith scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. 

Up next, Ohio will take on Miami in the Battle of the Bricks on Saturday, Feb. 3. The grudge match is set to tip at 2 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.  

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