Ohio moves past Ball State in MAC 1st round, 76-64

Mar 10, 2014, 10:55 pm

ATHENS, Ohio -- Nick Kellogg scored 17 points as No. 5 seed Ohio beat 12th-seeded Ball State 76-64 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament on Monday.

Ohio led by as many as 18 in the second half until Ball State cut it to 10 points with 4:24 left. Then Kellogg made a 3-pointer during a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.

Javarez Willis had 15 for Ohio (22-10) and Travis Wilkins hit 4 of 5 3-pointers.

Ohio built a 38-26 advantage at halftime as the Bobcats made seven 3-pointers and hit 50 percent of its 26 field goals. Wilkins and Willis combined to make 8 of 11 shots, 6 of 8 3-pointers and had 11 points each.

Ball State (5-25) was paced by Zavier Turner with 14 points and Majok Majok had 13.

Ohio will play eighth-seeded Miami (Ohio) on Wednesday in the second round.