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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 3 seeded Ohio men's basketball team (20-12) opened play at the 2024 Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday night (March 14), dominating No. 6 Western Michigan (12-20), 82-55, inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Overall, Ohio shot 41.3 percent from the field, 31.0 percent from three and were 11-of-16 from the line, while WMU shot 32.8 percent from the field, 29.6 percent from three and 47.4 percent and were 9-of-19 from the line. Ohio out-rebounded the Broncos, 46-42, while Ohio dished out 18 assists compared to WMU's eight. Ohio also forced 18 turnovers, while only turning the ball over three times themselves.
Individually, graduate student guard
Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) led Ohio with 15 points, dished out four assists and had six steals. Fifth year guard
Miles Brown (Rochester, N.Y.) added 13 points and four rebounds, while senior guard
Jaylin Hunter (Manchester, Conn.) added 13 points and dished out five assists and had five steals. Senior center
Gabe Wiznitzer (Walhalla, S.C.) hit his first career three in the win.
WMU won the tip, but the Bobcats got on the board early with a layup from junior forward
AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) and free throws from Brown to give the Bobcats the early lead entering the first media timeout. The Bobcats opened the game with an 8-0 lead before WMU got on the board. After the Broncos cut the Ohio lead to five, three-straight points from sophomore guard
Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) put Ohio up 13-5 with 11:57 left in the first half. However, after a goaltending call was reversed during the timeout, the Bobcats came out of the media leading 11-5, but Hunter responded with a layup to get the points back for the Bobcats.
After WMU cut the Ohio lead to 13-7, the Bobcats responded with back-to-back hustle plays and layups from Clayton and Brown, giving Ohio the 17-7 lead and forcing Western Michigan to call a 30-second timeout. Ohio took a 19-8 lead, before a 6-0 run from the Broncos cut the Ohio lead to five. However, moments later, a steal from Mitchell and a three-point play from Brown stopped the run, putting Ohio up 22-14 with 5:16 to go in the half.
After free throws from Wiznitzer and a driving layup from Mitchell put Ohio back up 10, before back-to-back threes from redshirt sophomore forward
Ike Cornish (Baltimore, Md.) and Mitchell gave the Bobcats a 35-22 lead going into halftime.
At the half, Ohio shot 34.3 percent from the field, 15.4 percent from three and were 9-of-11 from the line, while WMU shot 24 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from three and were 8-of-15 from the line. Ohio out-rebounded WMU, 24-20, while Ohio had seven assists and forced nine turnovers.
Individually, Mitchell led Ohio 11 points, followed by Brown with seven, while Clayton and sophomore forward
Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) led Ohio with five rebounds each.
The Bobcats opened the second half with three from Brown right off the bat, before the two teams traded layups, increasing the Ohio lead to 42-26 entering the first media timeout. A layup from Sheldon and a dunk from Hadaway put the Bobcats up 46-28, before a three from WMU cut the Ohio lead to 46-31. After a 5-0 run from the Bronco started to chip away at the Bobcats lead, a layup from Mitchell, followed by a three from sophomore guard
Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) gave the Bobcats a 53-36 lead with 11:05 left in the game.
Out of the timeout, a layups from Hadaway and Mitchell put the Bobcats up 20, however a three from WMU cut the Ohio lead down to 17 with 8:12 to go. After another three from WMU extended the Ohio run, a three from Brown put Ohio back up 62-45 entering the under-eight media timeout. Out of the timeout, back-to-back threes from Clayton and Hunter and a driving layup from Hunter, extended the Ohio lead to 70-45, forcing WMU to call a timeout with 6:22 left in the game.
Ohio continued to hold the lead, matching a WMU jumper with a three from Hadaway, putting the Bobcats ahead, 75-50 entering the final media timeout of the game. The Bobcats continued to add on during the final minutes of the game, including Wiznitzer hitting his first career three with under a minute to go, securing the 82-55 win.
For WMU, B. Artis White led with 12 points.
Ohio is back on the court for the MAC Semifinals on Friday, March 15 when the Bobcats take on No. 2 Akron. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and can be seen on CBSSN.
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