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Campbell, Simmons lead Bobcats to easy win

Ohio runs away from Northern Illinois in 2nd half of MAC quarterfinal


CLEVELAND – Newly named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Antonio Campbell had 21 points and eight rebounds, and he got plenty of help as Ohio ran away with a 79-62 victory against Northern Illinois on Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena.

All five starters scored in double figures for the No. 2 Bobcats, who advance to the semifinals of the tournament to face No. 3 Buffalo.

Kenny Kaminski connected on 5 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, while Jaaron Simmons contributed 16 points and 11 assists. Jordan Dartis finished with 11 points, and Treg Setty had 10 points.

“We were just ready to play, ready to prove our self to everyone, you know,” Simmons said. “Just ready and enthused.”

Marshawn Wilson paced the No. 7 Huskies with 22 points, but he was the only Huskies player to score more than 10 points.

Ohio (21-10) trailed for only 16 seconds in the game and ran away from Northern Illinois (21-12) early in the second half, leading by double digits nearly the entire final 20 minutes.

Campbell began the second half with a layup, and after a free throw by Marin Maric, Kaminski drained a 3-pointer and Campbell scored inside again. Dartis answered a Wilson 3-pointer with one of his own, and Setty’s putback grew Ohio’s lead from 36-27 to 48-31 in less than three minutes.

Maric scored for the Huskies, but nine straight Bobcats points followed. Campbell scored in the paint on consecutive possessions and then hit a jumper before Kaminski drained a 3-pointer to make it 57-33 with 14:16 remaining.

From there, Northern Illinois only got as close as 13 on a Laytwan Porter 3-pointer with 7:18 remaining and then again a minute later on two Travon Baker free throws. Setty and Dartis had late back-to-back 3-pointers to leave no doubt about the end result.

The Bobcats set the tone right away with a Campbell basket in the paint on their first possession. A few minutes later, Kaminski made it 14-9 with a 3-pointer, but Northern Illinois followed with its most successful stretch, scoring seven points in a row, taking its only lead, 16-14, on a Michael Orris steal that led to a Wilson layup.

Northern Illinois’ lead was short-lived, though. Gavin Block followed with a trey to put Ohio back on top, and Kaminski had back-to-back 3s to stretch it to 23-16.

“That's Kenny Kaminski for you,” Simmons said. “He shoots the lights out of the ball; he does it every day in practice. If I see him open, I'm going to hit him no matter how deep he is. I've got confidence he's going to shoot it and make it, and he's got confidence he's going to make every shot he takes.”

The Bobcats’ biggest lead of the first half was the margin at the break. After a Simmons 3-pointer made it 36-27 at the 2:49 mark, neither team scored again before halftime. Campbell missed the final 5:07 after picking up his second foul, but fouls were not an issue in the second half.

“They came out and made shots,” Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery said. “Campbell's a load on the inside. We just couldn't, we just didn't have an answer for that high ball screen. And Kaminski, he was tough.”

The Huskies struggled offensively, shooting just 36.1 percent from the field and making just 9 of 20 free throws. The Bobcats shot 50.8 percent, including 14 of 29 on 3-pointers.

“We were channeling our inner Akron,” Phillips said. “They were going in, so you know, you kind of take what they give you. Northern is really, really good defensively at taking away the paint. We knew we would have to take some. We're comfortable taking that many.”

In addition to his offensive effort, Campbell contributed eight rebounds and five blocks. Block had eight rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench, also taking a pair of charges and dishing out two assists.

Phillips said Block takes charges from Campbell in practice, helping him to learn how to avoid them during games.

“He helps me out a little bit,” Campbell said. “He stops me from getting fouls. He does it in practice and he's one of the few charge takers on our team.”

Levi Bradley had 10 points off the bench for the Huskies. Maric, who played for the first time in four games after suffering an ankle sprain, had seven points and eight rebounds.

Northern Illinois has not played a postseason game of any kind in 20 years, but even with the loss, the Huskies have a good shot of getting an invitation to play in some tournament.

“Some postseason tournaments are considering us and we're going to consider some other things,” Montgomery said. “Hopefully someone takes notice that 21 wins in this conference is special.”

No. 1 Akron faces No. 12 Bowling Green in the first tournament semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with Ohio’s game to follow at about 9 p.m.








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