BOULDER, CO. - Two key stats might have predicted the final outcome of Miami's game at Colorado Tuesday night. 1. The Buffalos were undefeated at home. 2. Miami had one victory away from Oxford, and that was on a neutral floor.
Paced by senior Kenny Hayes and freshman Allen Roberts, the RedHawks fell just short of a big road win Tuesday with a 67-65 loss to Colorado at the Coors Events Center.
Both players had key roles as Miami fought back from an 11-point second half deficit. Hayes scored 21 points. Roberts scored a career-high 14 points and saw his attempt to tie the game at the buzzer bounce off the front of the rim.
"It's painful when you know you can play, and you are ready to play, and you don't win those games," said Miami coach Charlie Coles, who has now seen his team come oh-so-close on several occasions.
"People may say they're 3-10, (but) when you play at Kentucky and at Cincinnati and Dayton and at New Mexico and Temple ... they could have easily beaten Kentucky, Cincinnati and Xavier," Buffalos Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik said after the contest."
Miami, which had not played a game since a 70-67 loss at Xavier Dec. 23, dug an early hole for itself with poor shooting. The RedHawks made just one of their first eight shots and committed three turnovers as Colorado opened up a 12-2 advantage by the time Alec Burks slammed home a dunk at 13:22. Burks, a 6-6 freshman guard averaging 16.2 ppg. had 17 points to lead the hosts against Miami.
"On offense, we missed easy shots. On defense, they drove us and just kept driving us,"Coles said.
Miami bounced back to take an 18-17 lead on a basket by Julian Mavunga at 7:55, but back-to-back treys by Dwight Throne II and Nate Tomlinson pushed the hosts back in front. Colorado then kept the RedHawks at a distance by making 9-of-10 free throws to give the Buffalos a 32-25 halftime advantage.
"You can't win games if they get 18 (points) on free throws and you get 10," said Coles, who had listed keeping Colorado off the line as a team goal. "They average 25 (attemtpts) a game and they got 26."
He attributed part of the problem to poor team defense in general and part to the relative inexperience of freshmen who are beginning to contribute on offense but are inconsistent and struggling in some defensive situations.
Orlando Williams had 17 points at Xavier and Roberts was one of two RedHawks in double figures Tuesday.
"We're paying the price with those two freshmen," Coles said. "The returns on defense are not very good ... but I can't say our veterans are playing very good defense, either."
A Roberts basket at 9:30 of the second half pulled Miami to within one at 41-40, but the Buffaloes ran off 10 straight points, including four by Burks and another four by Higgins.
"He responded and came up with some key steals and some key buckets in the second half," Bzdelik said of Higgins, who had struggled offensively to that point. Higgins, who averages 19 ppg, scored 11 points while hitting 4-of-11 from the field.
Overall, the Buffalos fared better as they made 51.2 percent of their shots (21-of-41) from the floor and put four players in double figures. "When we play well, we have that kind of balance," Bzdelik said.
Miami, which eventually converted 49 percent of its field goal attempts, used free throws to make another run at the hosts. The RedHawks made five free throws as they outscored Colorado 9-2 and made it a 53-52 game.
Once again, Colorado hit a pair of treys to expand its lead, and once again Miami came back. Hayes' basket after Burks converted 1 of 2 free throws narrowed the hosts advantage to 66-65 with nine seconds left.
When Thorne missed the second of two free throws two seconds later, Roberts grabbed the rebound, raced down court and put up a shot at the buzzer.
"I just wish we had tried to drive it to the basket," said Coles, who hopes his team can start putting together some complete (and winning) performances.
"We can play some good basketball," he said. "Our high moments were phenominal, and (in) our low moments, we let the game get away from us."
After dropping a close one to the Buffaloes, Miami now travels to Buffalo Saturday (4 p.m.) to start the RedHawks Mid-American Conference slate. |
