ATHENS – A game after a huge individual performance, Ohio used a balanced team approach to top Ball State 86-71 and win its sixth straight game Tuesday night at The Convo.

Aidan Hadaway and Jackson Paveletzke scored 15 points each for the Bobcats (10-6, 4-0 Mid-American Conference). AJ Brown and Shareef Mitchell had 12 points.

A game after going off for 31 points, AJ Clayton scored only seven points on 3-of-6 shooting, instead deferring to his teammates, who answered the call.

Ball State (8-8, 2-2 MAC) scored the game’s first five points, but Ohio answered with a 10-0 run and did not trail again. The Cardinals tied the game at 15. The Bobcats eventually went up by as many as 14 points at 42-28 before settling on a 45-35 halftime lead.

The Cardinals got as close as 62-55 on a Payton Sparks layup with 10:44 remaining in the game. The Bobcats scored seven straight points to double their lead. From there, they remained ahead by double digits and coasted.

Vic Searls scored nine points, Ajay Sheldon had eight points and Elmore James finished with six points for Ohio, which shot 54.8% from the field. In addition to his 15 points, Paveletzke had six assists and five rebounds.

Mickey Pearson Jr. had 19 points, with Jermahri Hill scoring 14 points for Ball State. Sparks had eight points and 12 rebounds.

Turnovers were a huge difference in the game, with Ball State committing 15 to Ohio’s five.

The Bobcats face their biggest challenge of the MAC season with a trip to face Akron (11-5, 4-0 MAC) at 6 p.m. Friday on CBS Sports Network.