Dior Conners provides second-half lift, Ohio Men’s Basketball gets bounce-back win
By: Andrew Bowlby
Posted on:
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – A pair of losses last week to Toledo and Ball State snapped positive momentum Ohio (11-9, 5-3 MAC) had built. Returning home Tuesday night to face Northern Illinois (6-12, 2-5 MAC) felt like a must win for the Bobcats to reestablish themselves.
They would be without a key piece as forward Javan Simmons did not suit up.
“He’ll be seen more in-depth tomorrow, not sure if he’ll be able to go or not,” head coach Jeff Boals said on Simmons’ status for Friday’s game against Akron.
Despite not having the big man, Ohio powered through a bizarre game to win 80-77 on NIU’s final trip to Athens as a MAC opponent.
Jalen Breath drew into the starting lineup for the first time in his Ohio career, but it was a different player who set the tone early.
JJ Kelly got Ohio going taking the first six shots for the Bobcats. Boals said that it happened naturally and was not necessarily a point of emphasis.
It wasn’t until nearly six minutes in that another player attempted a shot. Jackson Paveletzke was that player and he missed his first attempt on what would eventually become a big night for him.
Ohio also got solid minutes from big man Ayden Evans who has seen very limited action since MAC play began.
Ohio Men’s Basketball forward Aidan Hadaway finishing a layup against Northern Illinois. [Reece Merkel | WOUB Public Media]He got an early look from the corner and nailed the triple marking his first points in conference play, and first career made three.
The early problem for the Bobcats was the turnover bug. Ohio had five turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game.
“Our goal coming in was 10 turnovers, and we had eight at halftime, I thought some of them were careless,” Boals said.
However, the Bobcats found an 8-0 run midway through the half forcing an NIU timeout. Ohio got up by as many as 11 in the first half – but the Huskies kept fighting.
Over the last 4:44 of the first half NIU went on an 11-2 run pulling to within just two points at halftime. A concerning score considering Ohio was a double-digit favorite at home in desperate need of a win.
The Bobcats had the chance to come out and get the second half started on the right foot but they were not able to do that.
Instead, the Huskies made the first two shots with Dylan Ducommun tying the game and Hassan Washington giving NIU the lead.
Ohio took a seven-point lead at 48-41 before things began to get out of control.
NIU head coach Rashon Burno received a technical. He had been consistently arguing with officials calls and was eventually penalized for it. But that was just the beginning to what became a contentious ending.
Kelly continued to play well for Ohio and scored more in the second half ultimately finishing with a new career high 17 points.
But the most important spark for Ohio in this game was the one Dior Conners provided. Although he has not seen much success this season, Conners stepped up in a big way. He came into a big moment and met it by knocking in three triples.
His 11 points were critical for Ohio’s ability to win this game.
“For our team to be good, they’re going to have to be confident,” Aidan Hadaway said on the play of Evans, Conners and Breath.
“We needed a spark of the bench and he provided that,” Boals said.
The bench provided the lift Ohio needed and at one moment the Bobcats were ahead by 13. But NIU was determined to not let up. And that was the beginning of the chaotic ending.
Burno had an altercation with a member of the Ohio band that led to the student being removed from the game. There were also a number of calls made by the officials that both teams became frustrated by.
The crowd also became increasingly disgruntled with what was happening on the court. Through all of the noise, NIU was quickly getting back into the game and a lead that felt safe had vanished.
The Huskies just kept clawing away and even had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but a miss by Gianni Cobb allowed Ohio to sneak away with the win.
“I thought it was very choppy, that’s kind of how they do things. I wasn’t happy with our poise the last few minutes,” Boals said. “We had an 11-point lead with three minutes to go, you’ve got to close those games out the right way.”
There was a final minor skirmish in the handshake line and an NIU assistant yelled at the Ohio band walking off the court, but all-in-all the Bobcats got a massive win.
Far from perfect and far from what it will take to beat Akron on Friday, but it gets the momentum swinging back in the right direction.
The Bobcats will host the Zips in a huge Friday night collision at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.