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Nick Winbush drives during Miami's win over Evansville. Rodney Haddix, below, takes a shot. Photos by Mike Smith.

The victory was a reversal of last February's meeting between the two schools. Miami held a 21-8 first half lead in that contest, but the RedHawks eventually lost 75-61. It was the fifth straight win for Evansville over 11 total meetings.

The Purple Aces entered Saturday's game with a perfect 3-0 record and recently came within four points of upsetting  No. 12 Butler. All those games were on Evanville's turf, however, and the the Miami matchup put a relatively young Purple Aces squad on the road for the first time in 2009-10

Miami, on the other hand, was ready to finally enjoy its home hardwood after opening with five road games. The RedHawks won just one game out of those five, and, according to head coach Charlie Coles, did not play well through much of a tournament in New Mexico. He was particularly disappointed in the team's defense, traditionally a Miami strong point.

The defense was back Saturday as the RedHawks held Evansville to 38.5 percent shooting from the field. The Purple Aces entered Saturday's game connecting on 46.9 percent of their shots. They also averaged 76 points per contest but got just 58 against Miami.

The RedHawks, meanwhile, hit 53.4 percent from the field against Evansville and connected on 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) of their trey attempts. Mavunga, a  6-8 power forward, picked up nine points behind the arc as he made three-of-five attempts. He had no three-pointers last year when he averaged 3.4 ppg. He improved that to an 8.2 ppg. average prior to Saturday and recorded double-doubles in two of the previous three contests.

"This is the best game he's played, but he's had three good all-around games." said Coles, who wants Mavunga to play by two key words: "Be productive." The veteran coach said Mavunga is a very talented player who just needs to use his talents consistently.

"Boy, I'll tell you what, he's got ability. So we gotta keep him on task," Coles said. "If he plays well, our team plays well."

According to Mavunga, he is more confident this year and also more physically prepared to contribute at the collegiate level. He noted changing his diet and working out during the offseason allowed him to go from 263-pounds at the end of last season to his current 240-pound weight.

Joining Mavunga in double figures Saturday were Rodney Haddix (14) and Nick Winbush (11). Senior point guard Kenny Hayes and freshman Orlando Williams each had nine points. Coles said he still relies heavily on sophomore Kramer Soderberg but wanted to give Williams a start as part of a plan to get Miami's freshmen more court time prior to the Mid-American Conference season.

Miami grabbed an early 5-2 lead on a Mavunga trey and never trailed against the Purple Aces. A Haddix jumper at 2:08 stretched the lead to 19 points and the hosts enjoyed a 42-27 halftime advantage due in large part to defense. Miami outscored Evansville in points off turnovers 17-4 during the first half. The RedHawks also outscored Evansville 20-14 in the paint.

Haddix said the RedHawks were well aware of last year's collapse at Evansville and were determined to keep history from repeating itself on Miami's floor. "We talked about withstanding the runs they would make," Haddix said of the halftime discussion.

Succinctly put, Coles said the message was to "Stay focused."

"You've got to learn to play with the lead just like you have to learn to play from behind," Coles said. "Sometimes playing with the lead is more dangerous than playing from behind. We found that out down at Kentucky."

The Purple Aces managed to cut the lead to single digits (45-36) with 17:01 remaining, but Haddix hit a trey to start a 16-2 Miami run. The lead never dropped below 18 points after that and was as high as 26 points.

"Tonight I thought we played a great game, and offensively we made some great plays," Coles said. "It was probably our best game thus far if you take the offensive end and the defensive end (into consideration)."

Miami continues its three-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts Dayton. "Our objective against Dayton is  ...to play good defense against an even better team on Wednesday," Coles said.