So far, Ohio's (6-4) December has been defined by poor second-half performances, which led to back-to-back home losses against Youngstown State and Marshall. Against Defiance (1-8), Ohio had all but secured its victory by halftime. Ohio defeated Defiance 108-28.
Defiance, an NAIA team, was outmatched from the game's onset. Ohio scored the first 10 points and followed the strong start with a 19-6 run. Ohio was without Sophomore guard AJ Brown, but the starting lineup stepped up in his absence.
Ohio's starters finished the game shooting an almost unfathomable 19/22 from the field. Shereef Mitchell, AJ Clayton and Aidan Hadaway, AJ Brown's replacement, didn't miss a shot. Hadaway, Clayton and Mitchell combined for 16/16 from the field.
Clayton was the Bobcats' best first-half performer. The junior forward finished the game with 17 points in just 16 minutes. Clayton made all seven field goal attempts, including three 3-point field goals.
Perhaps the most promising development in Ohio's 80-point win over Defiance was including previously injured senior guard Miles Brown. Although Miles Brown didn't have the offensive efficiency as some of his teammates, he flashed his perimeter defending skills the team has been missing in his absence. Brown finished the game with 12 points on 4/9 shooting with two steals. Brown eased his way back into Ohio's lineup with 14 minutes of playing time.
Due to the strong play of its most reliable contributors, Ohio was able to carry a 60-19 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Ohio gave some of its skilled yet slightly unproven players an abundance of playing time. By the end of the game, Ohio's leading minutes-getters were Ajay Sheldon and Ike Cornish, who both had solid performances.
Sheldon led what ended up being one of Ohio's most impressive defensive efforts in a half all season. Ohio only gave up nine points in the second half, allowing Defiance to shoot just 4/21 from the field, including 1/8 on 3-point attempts. Sheldon finished the game with a career-high four steals. As a team, Ohio's 15 steals were twice as much as it averaged per game this season.
Cornish meanwhile led the team with five offensive rebounds, and his seven total rebounds set a new season high.
Ohio, understandably, didn't quite match the white-hot offensive pace it set in the first half but used the game's last 20 minutes to give experience to young players like Ben Estis and Quinn Corna.
Corna and Estis both finished with 12 points on 4/12 shooting. Corna, a Sophomore guard, finished the game 4/7 on three-point jumpers.
Ohio had a very efficient night offensively, shooting 55% from the field, including 44% on 3-point jumpers. Ohio's 108 points was the most it scored in a game this season. Defensively, Ohio allowed Defiance to shoot 25% from the field and force 28 turnovers. The 28 points Ohio allowed was the least it had allowed all season.
