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ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio Men's Basketball team (13-11, 7-5 MAC) returned to The Convocation Center Tuesday night for a matchup with fellow MAC opponent Western Michigan (8-14, 2-8 MAC). After an efficient scoring night, the Bobcats came out on top, 91-71.
"I challenged our seniors after our Kent State game; how do you want to end this thing? The commitment level is there; the investment is there," Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. "When you get to February, teams are going up, or they're going down. And, you know, knock on wood, our teams normally play the best basketball heading into March. We got to keep it going."
As a team, Ohio had one of its best scoring nights of the season, converting 13 threes, its second-best mark this season. In addition to a good three-point shooting night, the Bobcats shot 51.7 percent from the field, making 30 of their 58 attempts. The team also tallied 39 total rebounds and nine steals.
Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) and senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) tied for the team lead in scoring with 17. Paveletzke also lead the team in assists with eight. Senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) had another good game with 15 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) recorded 12 points on four-made threes, while freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) also recorded a double-digit scoring night with 13.
"It feels good. I think you expect to have ups and downs when you're shooting a lot of threes," Sheldon said. "I think you're going to have games where you're 0-5, and you have games where you're 5-5. I think it's normal to have either."
Paveletzke got the Bobcats into an early groove after a three-pointer put the team up 8-4. Solid shooting continued for the Bobcats throughout the game's opening minutes as they took a 17-14 lead into the first media timeout.
Back-to-back threes from senior guard Dior Conners (Columbus, Ohio) and redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) gave the Bobcats momentum as they began to pull away from the Broncos. On the following possession, Kuany made his presence known again as he slammed in a commanding dunk in the paint to give the Bobcats their first double-digit lead at 28-18.
A converted and-one by Simmons broke a brief first-half scoring drought for Ohio and extended its lead to a then-game-high 12 with under six minutes to play. The lead would only grow from there as Ohio's three-point shooting remained hot with back-to-back makes from Sheldon from beyond the arc to contribute to an 11-0 run.
Going into the break, Ohio led 44-28 with the team shooting better than 40 percent both from the field and from three.
The scoring didn't slow down coming out of the half as Kelly connected on a three-pointer on the team's first possession. Kelly would lead the Bobcats early in the second half with 10 points in the first nine minutes out of the break.
Ohio's lead would grow to as many as 21 in the second half as a consistent scoring attack was too much for Western Michigan to overcome.
The Bobcats ended the game on a 5-0 run to secure a 91-71 victory over Western Michigan for their second-straight conference win.
Up next, the Bobcats will complete the MAC-SBC Challenge with a road trip to Old Dominion this Saturday, Feb. 7. That game will tipoff at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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