Ohio better have good shoes — because it’s going dancing.
For the first time since 2012, the Bobcats are Mid-American Conference Champions. A first half dominated by Jason Preston and a second half wrestling with Buffalo for control bolstered Ohio to a 84-69 victory and its first MAC title in nine years.
Ohio hadn’t seen the MAC Championship since 2013. The last time it faced Buffalo in Cleveland, it bowed out in the 2016 semifinals 88-74. The Bulls blasted them 86-66 on Feb. 27.
But Ohio’s been burning through the MAC tournament, and Buffalo couldn’t take the heat.
Ohio had a season’s worth of keys to its success, but here is a handful of them:
Turnovers and control
Buffalo’s six turnovers in the first five minutes was the leg up Ohio needed. Ball control has been vital to the Bobcats through the MAC tournament.
Out of the gate, Buffalo had no control, and Ohio used that to plow ahead. The roles swapped after halftime. Ohio was slow, and Buffalo was looking for a comeback. Ohio cut the rally off, but it took until late in the second to wrestle back the command of the game.
Better beyond the arc
The Bobcats have, for the most part, shot better from 3-point range in the MAC tournament than they have in the regular season. In all three games, the Bobcats shot above the 35.1% average from beyond the arc.
Ben Vander Plas, Ben Roderick and Jason Preston have been the core of Ohio’s long-range shooters. The trio sank the eight 3-pointers the Bobcats made that night. Without the accuracy the Bobcats had in the MAC tournament, they never would have made it past Kent State.
Jason Preston, the one-man army
Preston’s teammates have said he changes when he plays aggressive. Vander Plas said he becomes an entirely new player. To the rest of the Bobcats, the junior looks untouchable. He’s shown that side against Illinois, Kent State and Toledo.
The beast was out Saturday. Preston breezed past the Bulls to earn 22 points and flirt with a triple-double.
Stringing Buffalo along wasn’t the highlight of Preston’s night however. A 3-pointer pushed him over the bar to join Vander Plas as the second Bobcat to join the 1,000-point club this season. To make it all the better, he pulled it off during the MAC Championship.
