Few mid-major teams have the opportunity that Ohio (13-13 overall, 7-6 Mid-American Conference) had on Saturday night in Millett Hall.
With a win against its rivals, No. 23 Miami (25-0 overall, 13-0 MAC), Ohio played spoiler for an undefeated MAC team that has been the talk of college basketball. This win has been one of the biggest for the program since the 2021 NCAA tournament, when the Bobcats were able to pull off a huge upset against the defending champion Virginia Cavaliers.
Unfortunately for Ohio, the magic that was needed did not travel with the team to Oxford on Saturday night, and it lost 90-74 to the RedHawks.
Despite the final score, Ohio came out of the gates looking prepared for the bright lights of a standalone, nationally televised game on ESPN.
A bunch of different Bobcats scored early, with freshman guard JJ Kelly starting things off with a nice pull-up free-throw line jumper. Veterans Jackson Paveletzke and Javan Simmons followed that up with some nice scores of their own.
The RedHawks elite offense was able to answer, though, with Eian Elmer knocking down a 3-pointer and guard Luke Skaljac giving Miami back-to-back buckets to earn the lead.
Paveletzke, the engine of the Ohio offense, showed up big again on Saturday, as he answered with a big 3-pointer.
He had yet another great game, going for a team-high 22 points on 7-16 shooting from the floor. Despite making just one of his five 3-pointers, he went to the line and converted, hitting seven of his eight free throws.
The two squads spent most of the first half trading blows, with Miami being able to keep a steady 4 to 5-point lead throughout.
The RedHawks shooting began to heat up at the end of the first half. Elmer and guard Peter Suder delivered with some more nice layups and pull-up jumpers to stretch the lead to double digits.
Senior guard Ajay Sheldon came through at the end of the half for the Bobcats, though, drilling his first triple of the first half to cut the Miami lead to just eight at the half.
Keeping the halftime lead short was huge for the chances of winning for the Bobcats. If the shooting could begin to heat up after Ajay Sheldon’s 3-pointer, they could have a real shot to take the undefeated RedHawks down to the wire.
The hot start did not materialize for the Bobcats, as Ohio got into early foul trouble, fouling Miami three times within the first two minutes of the second half.
That lull of a start did no good for the momentum that the Bobcats needed, as Miami was able to regain a double-digit lead.
Simmons and Paveletzke continued to battle, as Simmons was able to use his size all night on the low block to get looks under the rim.
He finished with 12 points and four boards, but he was only able to make four of his seven attempts from the free throw line.
The depth of Miami’s offense kept coming through, however, as guys like Justin Kirby and Almar Atlason were able to hit shots, just adding to the threat of an offense that ran through guys like Suder and Brant Byers.
Throughout the second half, it felt like Miami was just a few steps ahead at all times, playing free and flowing on offense, opening up chances for 3-pointers as it shot 5-8 from deep compared to Ohio’s 2-10.
Once Miami got the lead to around 20, Ohio was never able to bring it back to a more manageable single-digit lead.
The Redhawks offense was again able to reach 90 points, the 12th time they have reached that number this season. Ohio was just not able to keep up, and it resulted in a disappointing loss on a night that yielded so much opportunity.
