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Miami's Rodney Haddis II pokes the ball away from Ohio player Armond Bassett. Below, Miami coach Charlie Coles now holds the career record for MAC men's basketball wins. Photos by Mike Smith.

After the win, Coles said two things moved him toward coaching: 1. Former Miami football coach Bo Schembechler and 2. An Ohio victory in February of 1964. That Bobcats win denied Miami a MAC championship and vaulted the Bobcats into the NCAA tournament.

“We lost 63-60, and I had a horrible game,” Coles said. “Wouldn’t you know that year they played at the regional finals, and Michigan beat them. Had they beat Michigan, they’d have went to the Final Four. That has haunted me my whole life. Even when we went to the Sweet 16, it didn’t take the sting off.”

After 20 minutes Saturday, it appeared as though Ohio (9-8, 0-3) might pick up its 31st  “Battle of the Bricks” win in Oxford, where Miami (5-11, 2-1 MAC) had previously won 58 times. (Ohio now leads the overall series 95-89).

The Bobcats hit 53.3 percent of their shots from the field and 35.7 percent from behind the arc in the first half of Saturday’s contest. Jay Kinney’s bucket with two seconds left gave OU a 37-29 halftime lead. Freshman D. J. Cooper made 5 of 7, including three treys to lead the Bobcats during the opening period. Armon Bassett connected on 4 of 8 while adding 10 markers.

“I thought in the first half our offense was maybe the best we’ve see from our guys all year,” Ohio coach John Groce said.

An eight-point lead on the road certainly beats some of the alternatives, but Groce wasn’t feeling particularly comfortable. The RedHawks had connected on 45 percent of their shots from the floor during the first half and bounced back in the second half to defeat Kent State earlier in the week.

We “came out the second half, and ‘Wow!’ I figured we’d play better, but, boy, they really played good,” Coles said of his squad. There was about a nine or 10-minute stretch where we played great.”

Miami erupted for 17 unanswered points to take a 46-37 lead, and as he did Tuesday, forward Julian Mavunga provided much of the impetus. The 6-8, 245-pound sophomore scored from the inside and added a pair of treys while contributing 12 points during the critical run. He had 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots on the night.

“We knew for sure they like to start both halves by throwing the ball inside,” Groce said. “He came out in the second half with a look in his eye, demanded the ball, got deep post position and really went at our fours and fives. He was a big reason they made that … run.”

Basset’s trey at 12:26 finally broke the Miami run, but the RedHawks pushed their advantage up to 16 points on Antonio Ballard’s layup with 9:10 remaining.

Ballard scored 11 points, with six of them coming at the free throw line, and contributed 13 rebounds. Four came on the offensive glass, where Miami enjoyed a 17-4 advantage in second chance points.

“I thought they were tougher (and) more physical,” Groce said. “That’s extremely disappointing.”
 
The hosts had a 14-point lead with 3:06 remaining, but Cooper’s trey at 1:20 culminated a 10-0 Ohio run to make it 69-65.

Miami, which made its last field goal of the game at 4:28, hit its last 11 free throws, including 10 after Ohio closed to within four, to preserve the victory.  Miami made 26 of 37 from the line on the day, while Ohio netted 9 of 13 at the stripe.

“If you got a lead, and you hit free throws, it’s tough for them to catch you,” Coles said. “One of the things that we did (during) non-league (was) the opponent always outshot us with free throws. For instance, Cincinnati shot 32 and we shot 3 …. In the league, now, we are shooting more free throws than our opponent.”

“We fouled at the end, and that certainly boosted up their shooting numbers. I (also) think they were the most aggressive team – in the second half for sure,” Groce said. “We were too jump-shot heavy to start the second half.”

Among the 29 personal fouls called on Ohio were five on forward DeVaughn Washington. The 6-8, 225-pound junior fouled out with just seven minutes on the court. He had zero points and one rebound during that time.

“It had a large impact. He’s the most experienced (forward) we have on our team,” Groce said. “Last year (fouling) was a real issue for him. He had gotten significantly better and (I) was really proud of him…. It’s going to make it really difficult for us to win a basketball game when he is only out there for seven minutes.”

The RedHawks had an overwhelming advantage in rebounds, 43-22, and also led in points in the paint, 36-22. “We knew that they were going to shoot threes,” Mavunga said, “We knew that if we contested and got the rebound and (did) not give them second chance, opportunities – they only got six offensive rebounds the whole game – we knew that we would be fine.”

Miami put four players in double digits. In addition to Mavunga’s 18 and Ballard’s 11, Kenny Hayes scored 16 points and Adam Fletcher tallied 13.

Cooper led all scorers with 22 points, while Bassett (19) and Kinney (11) were also in double figures for the Bobcats.

After shooting 53.3 percent in the first half, Ohio slipped to 26.7 percent in the second stanza and finished with 24 of 60 (40 percent) from the field.

Miami jumped from 45 percent from the floor in the first half to 60 percent in the second for a 53.3 mark on the game.

“I’ve got to find a way to get our guys started better,” said Coles, who isn’t overly concerned about his squad’s regular season record. “We’re not playing for record now as much as we are each game at a time,” he said.

Miami goes back on the road Wednesday as it travels to Akron. Ohio continues its road games with a matchup Wednesday at Bowling Green.