"I thought it was a fitting way for the seniors to go out," Ohio head coach Saul Phillips said. "It was kind of a grinding, physical game. I think that kind of defines who they have been throughout their careers here.
"We did a much better job in the second half of attacking at the rim. We got a little carried away with the threes in the first half. When we started attacking the rim we started to get to the free throw line and that was a big difference."
Leading that attack on the rim was forward Jason Carter, who posted a career-high 26 points. In addition to making 7-of-13 shots from the field, the sophomore hit 11-of-12 free throws and even knocked down one 3-point goal.
Twenty-one of Carter’s points came after intermission as Ohio launched just six treys (making one) after going 3-of-14 outside the arc.
While the ‘Cats struggled from afar, so did Miami as the RedHawks put up 32 shots outside the arc, sinking eight (25%). Those makes, however, were almost half of MU’s total baskets on the night. The RedHawks, who will enter next week’s MAC tourney on a three-game slide, connected on just 19-of-67 (28.4%) overall.
Sophomore Nike Sibande led the RedHawks, hitting 8-of-18 overall and 4-of-5 free throws while totaling 22 points.
Freshman Mekhi Lairy was the only other RedHawk in double figures, connecting on 4-of-5 treys and all four free throws on the way to 16 points. Meanwhile, junior forward Bam Bowman, who had totaled 31 points over the previous two outings, went 1-for-15 from the field against, managing just three points.
Joining Carter in double figures for Ohio were starters Doug Taylor and Jason Preston with 10 apiece. The ‘Cats also got 18 points from the bench, while Miami totaled nine from its bench.
The visitors outrebounded Ohio 44-38, but the Bobcats had a big advantage at the foul line. Both teams connected on 84.6% at the stripe. However, Ohio made 22-of-26, while MU was 11-of-13.
A dunk by sophomore forward Dalonte Brown, a three-pointer from Lairy and a layup by sophomore guard Jalen Adaway helped Miami jump to a 7-0 lead to begin the game. Sibande got on the board with a driving layup and scored an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 12-3 at the 14:02 mark.
The Bobcats scored the next five points to pull within four. Sibande drained a pair of three-pointers as part of a 12-5 run that gave the RedHawks a 24-13 advantage with 6:59 to go. Lairy and senior guard Darrian Ringo each had triples to help Miami maintain the 11-point lead at 30-19. Ohio went on a 6-0 run before a jumper by Sibande at the buzzer sent the Red and White into the break in front, 32-25.
A jumper from Sibande and a three-pointer by Lairy gave Miami its largest lead at 37-25 at the 18:18 mark. The RedHawks were unable to score a field goal over the next seven minutes as the Bobcats went on a 15-3 run to pull within one at 41-40 with 11:53 to go.
A three-pointer by Brown at the 10:50 mark ended the scoring drought. Back-to-back baskets from Sibande and Brown pushed the lead back to five at 49-44 with 6:33 to go.
Ohio went on an 8-2 run to take the lead for the first time in the game at 52-51 with 4:13 to go. Two free throws from Ringo gave the advantage right back to Miami, but a layup from the Bobcats gave them the lead for good at the 3:23 mark. Ohio hit its free throws down the stretch to close the game on a 14-4 run to finish off the 66-57 victory.
(Composite -- staff, MU and Ohio)