In the 209th installment of the Battle of the Bricks, Ohio surged in the second half to defeat Miami 78-61. Both a school rivalry and a Mid-American Conference matchup, the Bobcats are once again back to .500 in the MAC standings. Tuesday also saw the return of point guard Jason Preston, who is back on the court after an injury.
Here are fast reactions from Ohio’s 78-61 win over Miami:
Nothing’s changed for Jason Preston
Preston had spent the previous four games dealing with a lower leg injury and had to watch from the sidelines before he was cleared to play against the RedHawks. After spending two weeks recovering, most starting players would try to ween back into their normal playtime and reduce any risk of inflaming the injury.
Preston, on the other hand, is jumping right back into his normal amount of time on the court. If you hadn’t paid attention to Ohio in the past few weeks, you might never have realized Preston had been injured. The junior may have only logged 10 points, but he moved so well, it will be likely he’s back to his old scoring ways before long.
Turnovers, for better and for worse
Turnovers mean nothing if a team can’t capitalize off of them, and that’s exactly what Ohio did. The Bobcats scored 25 points off of forced turnovers. The RedHawks scored eight points off of turnovers, and it had only had one less turnover than Ohio.
Ohio has struggled with the turnover battle this season, but it found a way to beat out Miami.
Sharing is caring
Preston is back, but he refused to hog the ball on his first game back. In fact, none of the Bobcats were selfish with the ball. Ohio racked up a total of 23 assists, the most against a MAC opponent and the second-most this season. Miles Brown was the only Ohio player on the court who didn’t score Tuesday.
The Bobcats played like a team Tuesday, and they ran circles around the RedHawks because of it.
Know your strengths
When Ben Roderick made six 3-pointers against Ball State, it was considered a highlight of his season to that point. Little did anyone realize, Roderick was prepared to do it again. The sophomore improved his shooting beyond the arc from Ball State, making six of his nine 3-point attempts.
The kicker? Roderick only attempted 3-pointers for the first 39 minutes. He only attempted one 2-pointer toward the end of the game. Points to the forward, he knows what his strengths are.
