CLEVELAND – Though there was a limited crowd, Ohio players warmed up on the court as usual before what was supposed to be the first game of the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals against Akron on Thursday morning.

Players were called off the floor and issued fever checks to see if anyone exhibiting any symptoms of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and shortly before the scheduled tip time of noon, players were allowed back on the floor to resume preparations for the game that then was pushed back to a 1 p.m. start time.

About 20 minutes later, though, the tournament was canceled for good, as conference tournaments across the nation made the same decisions. Later Thursday, the NCAA announced it would not be holding its Division I men’s and... <Read More>

ATHENS – After sitting out the last game, Ben Vander Plas nearly putting up a triple-double Monday as Ohio built a huge lead and then held off a late Central Michigan push to win 85-65 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament at The Convo.

Vander Plas finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Jason Preston put up big numbers across the board, too, with 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Jordan Dartis added 11 points and five boards.

The No. 8 Bobcats (17-15) advance to the Cleveland portion of the tournament to face No. 1 seed Akron at noon Thursday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

"Awesome game by our guys," Ohio Jeff Boals said. "I'm really proud of their effort and preparation."

Ohio led... <Read More>

OXFORD – Ohio rallied from 10 points down with three minutes remaining to beat Miami 67-65 and secure a first-round Mid-American Conference tournament home game Friday night at Millet Hall.

The RedHawks led 63-53 on Isaiah Coleman-Lands’ 3-pointer with 3:47 to go, but the Bobcats (16-15, 8-10 MAC) outscored them 14-2 the rest of the way, going ahead on Miles’ Browns put-back of a missed Jason Preston 3-pointer with 14 seconds left. Bam Bowman missed a contested 3-pointer at the buzzer for Miami (12-19, 5-13 MAC).

Preston led the way with 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Ohio. Lunden McDay added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Ben Roderick finished with 11 for the Bobcats, who played without Ben Vander Plas. He was in a... <Read More>

AKRON – Ohio ran out of gas late, and Akron rallied for a 74-67 victory Tuesday night to clinch the Mid-American Conference regular season title at James R. Rhodes Arena.

The Bobcats led 61-47 with 14:19 remaining on a Miles Brown free throw, but they went ice cold the rest of the way, getting outscored 27-6.

Greg Tribble’s dunk with 4:53 remaining gave Akron (23-7, 13-4 MAC) the lead, and the Zips did not give it up, even with the MAC’s second-leading scorer Loren Cristian Jackson fouling out with 9:30 left in the game.

"It was kind of like game one, but reversed," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "They dominated the first half at our place and we dominated in the second half."

Jason Preston led the Bobcats (15-15, 7-10 MAC) with 19 points... <Read More>

ATHENS – Ben Vander Plas had 20 points and six rebounds, and Jason Preston finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 assists as Ohio won for the fifth time in seven games with a 76-69 victory against Kent State on Friday night at The Convo.

Jordan Dartis added 17 points on senior night and his final home game. Lunden McDay was big off the bench with 16 points.

"No. 1, awesome crowd," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "That might have been the biggest crowd of the year, and what a night to have it. National TV game and senior night. I couldn't be prouder of our guys.”

Kent State (18-11, 8-8 Mid-American Conference) got 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists from Antonio Williams. Troy Simons had 11 points, and Philip Whittington... <Read More>