From the opening tip to the final horn, there wasn’t a doubt of the end result of Monday’s first-round Mid-American Conference Tournament game.
Ohio dominated Ball State in wire-to-wire fashion, dispatching the lowly Cardinals 76-64 to advance to the second round in Cleveland to play against Miami for the third time this season.
Monday marked the first of the five wins Ohio will need to clinch a MAC Tournament title and an NCAA Tournament bid.
The three-point shooting success that had escaped the Bobcats in previous home contests was righted in the first half, with Ohio hitting seven of its first 10 tries from beyond the arc.
One of those early 3-pointers sent senior guard Nick Kellogg into the pantheon of great MAC deadeyes when he made his 278th career triple at the 14:38 mark to give him the all-time conference record for made threes.
Kellogg, who earned second-team All-MAC honors this season, went on to finish with 17 points — a team high — along with five assists and four rebounds in what will likely be his final game at The Convo.
The perimeter dominance played a large role in an early 20-0 Ohio run that culminated on a made three from senior guard Travis Wilkins, which gave Ohio a 25-4 lead with 12:24 remaining in the opening half.
“It was fun,” Ohio junior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis said. “Coach set the tone early. He said the first five minutes will show us where your heart’s at. When you hear something like that and it’s what you want, I think that’s how you play.”
But that early offensive surge stalled later in the opening half, as Ohio scored just two points in the final 8:28 of the half, including a seven-plus minute scoreless drought that was snapped by a Maurice Ndour free throw at the 1:19 mark. The Bobcats missed 11 of their final 13 attempts from 3-point range.
Part of what stalled Ohio’s offense during the end of the first half was the Bobcats’ inability to hold onto the ball.
Before the break, Ohio turned the ball over 11 times, resulting in eight Ball State points. Fortunately for the Bobcats, the Cardinals couldn’t hang onto the ball either, and recorded 10 giveaways of their own.
Ohio cleaned up that total in the second stanza with four turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
The second half was relatively boring when compared to the large scoring runs and droughts of the first. Ohio maintained a double-digit lead for the entire 20 minutes, as the scoring differential never dipped lower than 10 points or topped 18 points.
There were excitable moments, however, as Ndour, a junior forward, threw down an alley-oop feed from senior wing T.J. Hall at the 11:21 mark. The slam prompted public address announcer Lou Horvath to call Ndour a “slamurai warrior.”
In his third straight game starting for the injured Ndour, freshman forward Antonio Campbell continued to thrive on both ends. He scored 12 points and grabbed four boards, helping pick up some slack for Ndour, who saw 17 minutes off the bench.
“The development of Antonio Campbell, we all knew it was coming,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said.
“He’s worked unbelievably hard in all areas. He puts a lot of extra work in, more than a lot of guys. Now, he’s reaping the rewards for it.”
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Fast Facts:
No. 5 Ohio: 76
No. 12 Ball State: 64
Ohio moves on to play Miami in the second round of the MAC Tournament on Wednesday.
Javarez “Bean” Willis scored 15 points for the third consecutive game.
Nick Kellogg scored a game-high 17 points to pair with five assists and four rebounds.
