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MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ohio men's basketball team (10-9, 4-3 MAC) returned to action Friday night (Jan. 16) in Muncie, Ind., falling to Ball State (5-13, 1-5 MAC), 76-71, inside Worthen Arena.
Overall, Ohio 48.1 percent from the field, 25 percent from three and 78.9 percent from the line, while Ball State shot 43.1 percent from the line, 36.8 percent from three and were 25-of-31 from the line. Ohio outrebounded the Cardinals 31-30, while Ball State dished out 11 assists to the Bobcats' seven.
Senior forward
Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) finished the game with 22 points and seven rebounds, while going 9-of-14 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line, while senior guard
Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) finished the game with 22 points and four assists. Redshirt junior forward
Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) finished the game with 13 points and six rebounds.
Ball State got on the board first, taking an early 4-0 lead before a jumper from Paveletzke cut the lead in half. After Ball State responded with a layup, a three from freshman guard
JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) cut the deficit to one, before a driving layup from the Cardinals put Ball State up 8-5 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, Ball State went on a 7-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 11:31 left. After Ball State took a 15-point lead, a three from senior guard
Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) and a layup and free throws from Kelly cut the deficit to five with 6:03 left in the half. However, Ball State hit back-to-back threes to take an 11-point lead with 4:33 remaining in the half. Out of the break, a driving layup from Hadaway cut the deficit to eight, however, the Cardinals went on a 5-0 run to close out the half to take a 44-31 lead into the break.
At the half, Ohio shot 46 percent from the field, 38 percent from three and were 4-of-5 from the line, while Ball State shot 53 percent from the field, 43 percent from three and were 6-of-6 from the line. Ohio outrebounded Ball State, 15-14, while the Cardinals dished out nine assists to Ohio's four.
Ohio opened the second half with the first basket, before Ball State followed it up with two free throws, moments later went on a 7-0 run with a three from Paveletzke to cut the Ohio deficit to six forcing Ball State to call a timeout with 17:40 left in the game. After Ball State took a 14-point lead with just over eight minutes to go, Ohio started to chip away with field goals from Hadaway and Paveletzke to cut the deficit to 10. Free throws from Simmons with 5:30 to cut the deficit to eight, however, Ball State matched it with free throws of their own. Moments later, a free throw and layup from Hadaway with 3:49 remaining cut the Ball State lead to six going into the final media timeout.
Out of the break, a jumper and free throw from Paveletzke cut the deficit to three, but Ball State responded with a jumper. After a step back jumper from Paveletzke cut the Ball State lead to three, free throws from Sheldon made it a 69-68 game with two minutes to go. After Ball State went back up three, a layup from Simmons made it a one-point game again with 50 seconds remaining.
A free throw from Paveletzke once again cut the deficit to one with 30 seconds to go. However, Ball State capitalized on four free throws down the stretch to secure the 76-71 win.
Up next, Ohio returns to Athens on Tuesday, Jan. 20 when the Bobcats host Northern Illinois. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+.
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