Ohio Athletics called it the biggest game in two decades, but with thousands on hand to honor a basketball legend, the rival RedHawks almost spoiled the Bobcat fun.
In front of the biggest crowd The Convo has seen in almost 15 years, Ohio came back from an eight-point deficit with 5:40 remaining to defeat Miami 69-65 on Gary Trent Day.
The announced crowd of 13,011 was the largest since 13,021 watched the Bobcats defeat the RedHawks Feb. 15, 1997 by a similar score of 67-65.
Saturday’s crowd was the fourth largest ever at The Convo and was just 92 people shy of breaking the all-time attendance record set in 1970.
After a bit of sluggish start, Ohio (15-4, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) trailed Miami (5-12, 1-4 MAC) by 12 with just more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Despite the deficit, Ohio guard Walter Offutt said the team was not phased by the large crowd.
“Coach did a good job keeping our minds focused on the game for the most part,” Offutt said. “He said he’ll take care of all the accolades and all the other stuff going on, and I think we did a great job of channeling that out.”
A packed Convo was not anything out of the ordinary for Trent, who was part of the 1994–95 team that drew the school’s single-season attendance record with 113,427 fans.
The rowdy crowd was rocking from the opening tip, but the cheering was routinely silenced by an array of 3-point baskets from the RedHawks in the first half. Miami took a six-point lead into the half largely because of its 8-for-11 shooting performance from behind the arc.
The Bobcats took their first lead since the opening basket when Ricardo Johnson knocked down a jump shot with 10:25 remaining in the game to give Ohio the 47-45 edge. But Miami quickly regained command of the game and would not relinquish the lead until the game’s waning moments.
After Ohio’s Reggie Keely failed to tie the game on an and-one attempt — his fourth of the game — the Bobcats took the lead for good on a steal and fast-break layup by Offutt with 1:29 to play.
The Convo erupted as Offutt laid the go-ahead bucket off the glass.
“It was pressure, but it wasn’t anything negative,” Ohio guard D.J. Cooper said about playing in front of a sold-out crowd. “We played in Louisville with 22,000 fans against us and we had 13 (thousand) rooting for us tonight, so we just embraced it.”
Cooper struggled from the floor early on and did not connect on a field-goal attempt until deep into the second half. But in the final five minutes, Cooper took over the game with 10 points to finish with 13.
Entering the game, Miami forward Julian Mavunga led the MAC in scoring, but it was his counterpart, Ivo Baltic, who commanded the paint.
Baltic led all scorers with 20 points while Mavunga finished with seven. Miami guard Brian Sullivan led the RedHawks with 16 points as he knocked down 4 of 9 3-point attempts.
Despite the loss, Miami coach Charlie Coles said he enjoyed the trip to Athens.
“As always, the best environment in the MAC for basketball made it fun to play this game,” Coles said. “I thought we did most of the things we needed to do to win.
“Coming to Athens is a thrill for me every single year. This is where it’s at. It’s fun to have people shouting at you and calling you names. I take them as compliments.”
With the win, the Bobcats move above .500 in MAC play for the first time this season and remain in second place in the MAC East.
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