Ohio (0-1) fell 89-85 at home in a physical season opener to Arkansas State (1-0). After dominating the turnover battle in the first half and getting a career high 28 points from senior forward Aidan Hadaway, the Bobcats fell short after second-half free-throw struggles opened the door for the Red Wolves’ comeback win.
Both teams were looking to run early and find some momentum they could use to pull away, but kept getting hindered by their own mistakes. The Redwolves had 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes, but Ohio struggled to produce points off of them, only scoring four. These struggles helped Arkansas State make a run and tie the game at 12 apiece.
Ohio may not have turned the ball over much early, but it was struggling to score, shooting 26 % through 10 minutes. These shooting woes helped Arkansas State extend its run to 12-0 as the lead grew to 19-12 in favor of the Red Wolves. The run was broken on a lone free throw by senior guard Jackson Paveletzke.
The Bobcats hit threes on both sides of the ensuing media timeout, one by senior guard Ajay Sheldon and the other by redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons, his first points with Ohio, to help cut the lead to 22-21 Arkansas State.
Around the six-minute mark, Paveletzke made a pair at the free throw line, followed by a three-pointer from senior forward Aidan Hadaway as Ohio took a 27-22 lead. Hadaway stayed hot, scoring the next four Ohio points on his own, and after a bucket down low by redshirt senior Jalen Breath, Ohio was now on a 20-0 run, up 33-22.
After a few physical plays that resulted in Arkansas State scores, Paveletzke was back at the charity stripe for two shots, which he made to push the Ohio lead back to six, at 37-31. Paveletzke was not done there. He let the clock run down, and as time expired, he put up a turnaround jumper that went in to beat the buzzer, putting Ohio up 39-32 heading into the locker room.
Both teams came out of the break hot, hitting their first two shots. For Ohio, it was Hadaway once again supplying the offense, as he pushed Ohio’s lead back to seven. He then followed it up with an assist to Simmons for a layup. Arkansas State finally got a stop, but its offense kept scoring, cutting the Ohio lead to 46-43.
The Bobcats had gone quiet for a couple of possessions, but when they needed it, Hadaway stepped up again to push the lead back to five. They then got to work in transition with Hadaway leaking behind the Red Wolves' defense for a fast break layup to go up 52-46.
“That's when we missed him,“ Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said of Hadaway’s performance. “I think in those 12 games last year, he was probably the biggest guy we missed, because he's a really good rebounder. He's an inside-out matchup problem, and it was good to see him bounce back and have that type of game.”
Arkansas State responded with a 7-2 run, powered by Jackson, who now had 15 points following an and-one. Ohio needed a big shot, and senior guard Dior Conners delivered with an off-the-dribble three-pointer to put Ohio up 57-53. Physicality became the name of the game as both teams' pace began to slow. Ohio played through the forwards, and Hadaway scored another layup to keep the lead at four.
The Red Wolves hit a big three-pointer that sucked the air out of The Convo, but Sheldon quickly fired the Bobcat fans back up with a contested fallaway three-pointer of his own from the left wing. Hadaway went to the bench and Simmons stepped up, scoring a tough layup with his left hand to put Ohio up five at 64-59.
Arkansas State once again went on a run. It scored nine to Ohio’s two and took advantage of the bonus to slow the game down and steal some points at the free throw line to take a 68-66 lead with nine minutes to play in the second half.
After an Ohio timeout, it went on a 6-0 run, which saw scores from Paveletzke, Elliot and an emphatic and-one by Simmons. The Bobcats' run was soon upended by a couple of fast-break buckets for the Red Wolves as the game was tied heading into the final five minutes.
“He's a big, strong kid in there," Boals said of Simmons. "We have to continue to throw the ball into the post to him, Jalen (Breath) and Hadaway and just create opportunities out of that, whether it's a one-on-one matchup, whether we get double-teamed and create a shot off of the double team.”
The game slowed dramatically with both teams entering the double bonus. The Red Wolves were the benefactors of these fouls, jumping out to an 80-76 advantage. Simmons responded with a pair of his own. The Red Wolves were not done, hitting a three-pointer to stretch the lead back to five as the game clock went under two minutes.
“When you get down to a close game, every possession is going to matter, right,“ Boals said. “The first possession, the last possession, middle possession, and you have to have the toughness to knock free throws in.”
Ohio got the ball back down three, and Paveletzke went for a floater but could not convert. The ball was rebounded by Arkansas State, and they had numbers down floor for an easy dunk. It then became a clock management game that was controlled by Arkansas State as they held on to win 89-85.
