Ohio (11-9 overall, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) returned home after a road trip that saw them lose two in a row and faced off against Northern Illinois (6-12 overall, 2-5 MAC) in the Huskies’ final game in The Convo as a MAC member.
The Bobcats were able to come out on top in a tight, whistle-filled game with a score of 80-77. The contest featured four technical foul calls to go along with a rowdy home environment for Ohio.
“Students coming back make a big difference,” Ohio head coach Jeff Boals said. “The band being here, dancing, cheering. This is one of the best environments, if not the best, in the league.”
Ohio started the game quickly, feeding freshman guard JJ Kelly early and often throughout the start of the game. Kelly took each of the team’s first six shots of the half, but he was only able to hit two of them to start.
The young guys were the driving force behind the Bobcat offense early, as sophomore big man Ayden Evans was able to get some minutes early with senior forward Javan Simmons out with an injury.
Evans recorded an unfortunate travel on his first touch, but he redeemed himself on his second, calmly knocking down a corner three to give Ohio the lead.
The Huskies stayed in the game after the scoring from the Ohio youth, but senior forward Aidan Hadaway really started to make an impact, knocking down a three before combining with Kelly for an electric play where Hadaway launched an inbounds pass down the court for Kelly, who slammed it home.
Hadaway and his efforts helped get Ohio’s lead up to as much as 11 with under five minutes to play, but Northern Illinois kept fighting to force some turnovers and claw at the lead.
By the time the first half buzzer sounded, Ohio’s lead was suddenly down two as Hadaway and Kelly’s combined 22 points were good enough for just a 32-30 lead.
Georgia native Hadaway started the second half right where he left off, as he was able to rattle home a 3-pointer for Ohio’s first points of the half.
While Hadaway kept his hot-streak going, senior guard Jackson Paveletzke really started to heat up after the break. He finished with 23 total points, and a whopping 19 of them came in the second half. He was able to get to the line in a big way, even knocking down a technical free throw after the game’s first technical call on Northern Illinois coach Rashon Burno.
“I feel like this year I’ve been more of a second-half player,” Paveletzke said. “I didn't really attack much in the first half, so I was just trying to get downhill in the paint, make plays for others, myself.”
Just as Paveletzke started to heat up, so did Dior Conners, who drilled a couple of big 3-pointers in the second half, getting The Convo crowd going.
Those three were key for Ohio, who kept fending off the Huskies and Dylan Ducommun, who finished with 23 total points, with 16 of them coming in the second half.
With less than five minutes to go, Aidan Hadaway received his first technical foul of 2026, giving the Huskies some momentum that allowed them to cut the lead to just seven.
“It comes down to me as a senior,” Hadaway said. “I have got to keep my poise and keep everybody behind me, keep everybody's head up.”
Both teams kept fighting and trading free throws down the stretch, as the game remained chippy and physical, with even more technical fouls dished out in the form of a double technical foul on Ajay Sheldon and Northern Illinois’ Daemar Kelly.
Despite all of the whistles, Conners and Paveletzke were able to close out the game at the free-throw line, with Conners hitting two and Paveletzke hitting one to seal an important win for Ohio, with Akron coming to Athens Friday.
