Ohio (19-12, 13-5 Mid-American Conference) will go into the MAC tournament to play as well as any team in the conference after its 72-59 win over Miami (15-16, 9-9 MAC) to end the regular season on a 6 game winning streak.
Ohio's win, in combination with a loss from Akron, moved the team into a tie for second in the MAC standings to end the season. Akron edged out Ohio for the No. 2 seed via tiebreaker, meaning Ohio will take on Western Michigan in the first round of the tournament as the No. 3 seed.
Similar to the first game against Miami, Ohio faced some offensive difficulties in the first half. Without a consistent source of scoring, the Bobcats fell behind 27-14 with three minutes and 20 seconds to go in the first half. It was not until Aidan Hadaway scored six of 12 consecutive Bobcat points that the Bobcats' offense showed signs of life. The significant 12-0 scoring run powered by 6 straight Hadaway points had the Bobcats trailing 27-26 at halftime.
Hadaway's scoring outburst was not a one-off moment to end the half. Hadaway finished the game tied with Shereef Mitchell as the team's leading scorer.
The Bobcats were a completely different offensive team in the second half, largely due to Hadaway. The sophomore forward hit two consecutive 3-point jumpers to give Ohio an early second-half advantage. Even though the Bobcats opened strong in the first six minutes of the second half, they were only getting started. Up 42-38, Ohio embarked on a 14-0 scoring run to take a sizable advantage.
The run included five key points from Mitchell, who has stacked two straight 20-point performances in his last two games. After a difficult scoring stretch throughout much of February, Mitchell will be one of Ohio's hottest scorers heading into the MAC tournament.
Ohio led by as many as 22 in the second half, with its defense submitting one of its better performances of the season in the 72-59 win.
Miami's field goal percentage was 36.8% at the end of the game eight percent down from its season average. The Bobcats additionally forced 18 RedHawk turnovers while only giving up 11. Anderson Mirambeaux, the RedHawks' center and leading scorer, was held to 13 points and was forced into four turnovers. While Mirambeaux still managed to lead his team in scoring, he was only 4-10 from the field.
After a slow first half, Ohio managed to score a total of 46 second-half points. Even though Ohio had no other double-digit scorers than Hadaway and Mitchell, Jaylin Hunter contributed in several aspects of the game with seven assists and five rebounds.
With both teams having solidified places into the MAC tournament, Friday's game did not have much postseason implications. From here on out though, every Ohio game will have the season on the line.
