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KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Ohio men's basketball team (15-13, 9-6 MAC) returned to action on Tuesday night (Feb. 25), falling to Western Michigan (10-18, 7-8 MAC), 82-73, inside University Arena.
Overall, Ohio shot 42 percent from the field, 32 percent from three and 57 percent from the line, while WMU shot 51 percent from the field, 42 percent from three and 67 percent from the line. WMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 42-32, while Ohio dished out 19 assists to WMU's 13. Ohio also recorded 15 steals and forced 16 turnovers, scoring 19 points off them.
Individually, Ohio was led by graduate student guard
Shereef Mitchell (Omaha, Neb.) with 21 points, going 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-4 from three and 2-of-2 from the line, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out eight assists. Redshirt sophomore guard
AJ Brown (Orlando, Fla.) added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds, while junior guard
Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) added 11 points, four rebounds and five assists. Junior
Elmore James (Cleveland, Ohio) added 10 points.
WMU won the top and got on the board first, however a three from Mitchell gave Ohio and early lead. After WMU went up 11-4, free throws and a three from Paveletzke cut the Ohio deficit to 11-9 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, WMU went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-point lead with 11:46 remaining in the half. Out of the break, a 7-2 run from the Bobcats and a three from Brown cut the Ohio deficit to four, forcing WMU to burn a 30 second timeout. Out of the break, the Bobcats continued the run, forcing three-straight turnovers and capitalizing with a jumper from Paveletzke and a three from freshman guard
Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.), giving Ohio the 24-23 lead with 7:18 remaining in the half.
After WMU took a four-point lead, a jumper from James stopped the run and got Ohio within two, however, the Broncos matched it with a layup, taking a four-point lead into the final media timeout if the half. After jumpers from senior forward
AJ Clayton (Roseville, Ohio) and James cut the Ohio deficit to one, WMU went on to take a five-point lead before a driving layup from Paveletzke as time expired sent the Bobcats to the half trailing, 36-33.
At the half, Ohio shot 41 percent from the field, were 4-of-13 from three and were 5-of-8 from the line, while WMU shot 50 percent from the field, were 4-of-8 from three and were 2-of-6 from the line. WMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 21-14, while Ohio dished out six assists to the Broncos' six. Ohio also forced nine WMU turnovers, scoring 11 points off them, while the Broncos forced Ohio to turn the ball over five times and scored nine points off them.
Ohio opened the second half with a layup and a three from Brown to put Ohio up two. After WMU tied the game at 38-38, the two teams traded baskets before another three and layup from Brown gave the Bobcats a five-point lead. However, WMU went on a 4-0 run to cut the Bobcats lead to 45-44 going into the first media timeout. After the two teams traded baskets, WMU went up two before six-straight points from James games Ohio a four-point lead. However, WMU matched it with a layup, cutting the Ohio lead to 57-55 with 11:25 remaining in the game.
After WMU cut the Ohio lead to one, a layup from Clayton put Ohio back up three. However, WMU then went on a 5-0 run to take a two-point lead with 10:22 remaining. After a three from Mitchell cut the Ohio deficit to one, WMU went on a 5-0 run to take a 70-64 lead with 7:17 remaining. After about three minutes of scoreless basketball from both team, Ohio went on a 4-0 run with back-to-back layups from graduate student forward
Vic Searls (Hilliard, Ohio), cutting the Ohio deficit to two with 3:54 to go. However, WMU capitalized on two Bobcat turnovers, going on a 7-0 run to take a nine-point lead with 2:24 to go. Ohio was unable to capitalize on their offensive opportunities down the stretch, falling by the final of 82-73.
For WMU, Chansey Willis, Jr. scored a game-high 34 points.
Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens on Saturday, March 1 when Miami comes to Athens. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. The game is the first of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader in the Convo.
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