Ohio's season ends after loss to Morehead State in the College Basketball Invitational.
There were no if’s, and’s, or but’s this time. There was no “unless.”
Wednesday would unequivocally be Treg Setty’s final game in The Convo. And just like each game before, he was there to make the most of it.
Not even his 20-point, five-rebound performance was enough to rescue Ohio on Wednesday, as Morehead State was able to force 18 turnovers en route to a 77-72 victory in the Collegiate Basketball Invitational semifinals.
Ohio finishes its season with a 23-12 record, a 13-win improvement from last season.
"I don't know if tonight was any different," Setty said. "From the Buffalo game on, I didn't want it to end here. That's not the way it happened, but we fought long and we fought hard. It's tough to see it all go, but I'll be a part of this thing vicariously in the future."
Ohio coach Saul Phillips was sentimental about his lone senior after the loss.
"There's no way to say (Setty) didn't leave it all on the floor," Phillips said. "Guys take journeys in their career, and then there's the journey that Treg took. But through it all, his passion for the game, his raw emotion at all times sometimes made him interesting to coach, but always made him fun to coach."
This is the fourth game in a little under a month that Setty entered with the possibility of it being his final home game. In the regular season home finale against Buffalo, he played hoping it would be, as it could have meant the Bobcats earned an NCAA tournament berth.
The past couple of games, however, have been a different story.
Each win the Bobcats got earned them another home game as they aimed for a CBI tournament final appearance.
It just might have happened, too, were it not for Morehead State pressuring Ohio into one of its messiest offensive performances of the season.
The first 16 minutes of the game were the most disastrous, with the Bobcats being held to just 15 points and quickly reaching double digits in the turnover department. Thanks to a strong defensive effort along with eight points from Setty, however, Ohio was able to stay close, trailing 29-24 at the half.
The Bobcats needed a dramatic shift to get the offense back on track in the second half. They achieved just that, doubling their first half point total while cutting their turnover output in half.
A large part of the comeback was guard Jaaron Simmons, who continued his pattern of being a second-half threat, turning around a 0-for-6 first half shooting performance with a couple of strong lane drives to help get the Bobcats into a rhythm. Simmons and Setty were both clutch in the free throw department, hitting a combined 19-for-23 from the free throw line.
Unfortunately for Ohio, Morehead State was able to make similar turnarounds, perhaps none bigger than the one it made from deep. The Eagles hit nine of their final 10 free throws, the last of which gave them the lead for good with three seconds remaining.
"They made a lot of big plays in the second half," Phillips said. "We struggled all first half scoring, and got into some really weird situations. We tried to draw fouls by getting Jaaron downhill. In the second half, we were able to score more freely, but for a while it seemed like for every punch they had a counterpunch."
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