Ohio's (18-12, 12-5 Mid-American Conference) fifth-straight win over Buffalo (4-26, 2-15 MAC) Tuesday was not the prettiest of its most recent winning streak, but it still solidified Ohio's place as, at worst, a No. 3 seed in the upcoming MAC tournament.
Ohio was put over the top by outstanding offensive performances from Shereef Mitchell and AJ Clayton who both went for 23 points. Previously to Ohio's road win over Buffalo, Mitchell struggled from the field some in Ohio's recent games. That was not the case against Buffalo, although it may not have seemed to be that way in the first half. After just 4 points in the first half, Mitchell erupted for 19 second-half points.
Mitchell took only nine shots on the night to get 1 point short of a season-high but made his biggest contributions just when Buffalo cut Ohio's lead to 6 with six minutes to go. Mitchell then scored 10 of Ohio's next 13 points, assisting on the other three to put Buffalo away.
Meanwhile, Clayton made an immediate impact. Clayton made two of Ohio's first three field goals with back-to-back 3-point jumpers, contributing to a 9-0 lead for Ohio. The 9-0 lead was one the Bobcats would not surrender. Clayton made seven total 3-point jumpers out of 13 total attempts.
On the night, Ohio shot 14-of-33 from 3-point range and Mitchell contributed with three made 3-pointers on five attempts. Ohio did not need many turnovers to defeat Buffalo given its hot shooting from beyond the arc but the team still forced 18 turnovers including 12 steals. While Miles Brown did not have the biggest scoring night, he found ways to contribute with four steals, four assists and four rebounds to go along with 8 points.
While the Bulls managed to get to the free throw line an abundance of times, an aspect of their performance that kept them in the game. The Bulls made 16 of 24 free throw attempts and despite Sy Chatman's best efforts with 25 points, the Bulls shot just 44% from the field and never truly threatened Ohio's lead.
With Toledo winning today, Ohio did have its hopes of a No. 1 seed go by the wayside but now cannot be any worse than the No. 3 seed in the MAC tournament with a one-game lead over Central Michigan with just one game to play.
