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Antonio Ballard drives against Zeke Marshall (left) and Alex Abreu. Below, Julian Mavunga, who had a career-high 25 points Wednesday, looks for room. Photos by Mike Smith.

ATYPICAL IN SERIES
Those are lofty numbers in a series that often features tough man-to-man, in-your-face defense and relatively low scores. And through 17 outings this season, Miami ranked ninth in the MAC with an average of 62.4 ppg. Akron was fifth at 70.4 ppg.

Both teams put four players in double figures Wednesday. Junior forward Julian Mavunga paced Miami with a career-high 25 points, while Antonio Ballard (19 points, 10 boards) and Nick Winbush (11 points, 12 caroms) both had double doubles. Orlando Williams added 12 points to the cause.

"I just feel like a lot of the season we've had games where one guy shines or another guy shines," Mavunga said. "But I ... feel like we were in sync (tonight) more than we have been in any game this whole entire season. ... We really had a good sense of unity in this game, and we got the job done together."

Nikola Cvetinovic posted a team-high 15 points (and eight rebounds) for Akron. Steve McNees, Brett McClanahan and Alex Abreu each contributed 12 points.

MIAMI EMBRACING THE STRIPE
Akron actually made more field goals (29) than Miami (26) and also had a higher percentage 46.8 – 43.3 of successful attempts from the field. The hosts, however, had two more treys (9-7) and ended up with a commanding advantage from the charity stripe. MU sank 23-of-28 overall, including their last 14 points. Akron connected on 11-of-14 from the stripe. 
 
The visitors stayed with Miami early and grabbed their biggest lead of the game, 10-7, with 13:39 left in the first half. The RedHawks, however, soon took off on a 20-5 run. Williams, who connected on 4-of-7 from behind the arc, kicked the spurt off with a trey at 11:49. “I guess it carried over from the BG game. I’ve just been in the gym working on my shot, and it showed today,” said the sophomore guard.

Forward Vince Legarza finished the run with a basket inside at 6:48 to put the Red and White up 12 (27-15). The lead got as high as 14 once before the teams went to the locker room with Miami holding a 39-28 advantage.

“I thought we came out ready to play,” Miami head coach Charlie Coles said. “I thought we did a real good job of establishing ourselves on the court. In the past, we’ve given up offensive rebounds and not run the offense with energy. … Tonight we got that going.”

WORKING INSIDE
Miami owned a 16-4 advantage in points from the paint and also outscored Akron 10-5 on second chance points during the opening stanza.

“My mentality is to try to get to the boards as much as I can, because the more you get to the boards, the more rebounds you get and the more chances and possessions you get,” said Ballard, who registered a game-high six offensive boards.

Another positive stat for Miami was turnovers. The Red and White rank next to last (MAC) in assist/turnover ratio (.71). They had just three turnovers in the first half and finished with 10 turnovers and 10 assists against the Zips.

“We broke even on the assists to turnovers, and that is something coach Coles has been harping on,” Mavunga said.

“We’ve been a turnover machine,” said Coles, noting his squad registered 20 turnovers in three straight games before Wednesday. 

Miami continued to carry a double-digit lead through much of the second half. It was up to 14 points (55-41) after a Winbush layup at 13:31.

Akron cut the deficit in half with a Cvetinovic layup, steal and layup by Abreu, and triple by McNees.  Seven points, however, turned out to be as close at Akron could get. Miami responded to each run, building a double digit lead and icing the game from the line. The last RedHawks field goal was a Ballard put-back with 5:00 remaining. Miami made 15-of-18 free throws the rest of the way.

“We know that Akron is a team that can keep chipping away,” said Ballard, who pointed out the Zips recently made a big – albeit unsuccessful – comeback after spotting Ohio a huge lead.

END OF STREAK
The victory broke a four-game Akron winning streak in the series and allowed Miami (8-10, 3-1 MAC) to retain a piece of first place with one game to go in the first pass through the MAC East. That one game will be a major challenge for the RedHawks, who travel to Kent State for a 2 p.m. game Sunday. Coles noted the Flashes will likely be very anxious to play after a disappointing 79-54 loss Wednesday at Buffalo.

“You know what that means for us,” Coles said.  “The first thing I’m going to do when I get off the bus (at Kent) is tell them, “Get even with Buffalo, not us. Your problem is with Buffalo. Let’s play ball. Don’t be mad at us.”

Akron, which slipped to 10-8 overall and 1-3 in MAC play, is still a dangerous team, according to Coles. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they went on a little run here,” he said. “They’re pretty good.”

NOTES:
- Heading into play Wednesday, four teams from Miami’s non-conference schedule were ranked among the top six teams in the country. The group had a combined 70-1 record, with the only loss belonging to No. 4 Duke (16-1).
- Brett McKnight scored eight points in 17 minutes before fouling out.
- Zeke Marshall was 4-for-5 from the field but only shot one free throw, which he missed. 
- Coles said the win over Akron was one of Miami’s top three performances of the year.
- Allen Roberts had eight points, his most since a 10-point performance against Kansas.
- Akron coach Keither Dambrot will try for Akron coaching win No. 150 when the Zips host Bowling Green Saturday (7:30 p.m.). He needs one more to become the third coach to win 150 games at Akron. His next win will also move him into a tie (with former Bowling Green HC Jim Larranaga) for ninth place in total wins as a MAC coach.