MIAMI BASKETBALL

Miami upset bid slips away in second half

Bobcats shoot 55.1 percent after intermission; Steele laments turnovers

Bradley Dean drives the lane. (MVSmith/MRO)

By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Miami never trailed in the first half and led by as many as 12 before intermission, but the surging Ohio Bobcats exploded for 46 second half points to defeat the RedHawks 72-59 Friday at Millett Hall. 

It was the sixth straight win for Ohio, which won 10 of its last 11 Mid-American Conference contests. With Akron's loss to Western Michigan Friday, the Bobcats and UA finished the regular season at 13-5 -- one game behind Toledo (14-4). Ohio will face Western Michigan Thursday in Game No. 4.

Miami (9-9 MAC) dropped into a tie for sixth with Western Michigan. However, the Broncos defeated MU twice this year, so Miami falls to seventh in seeding for the MAC tournament and will meet Akron Thursday in Game No. 3.

Mitchell Shereef and Aidan Hadaway led . . .

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. . .  the 'Cats with a game-high 20 points each. Anderson Mirambeaux (13 points) topped fo Miami players in double figures. Eian Elmore tallied 12 and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Mekhi Cooper and Bryce Bultman added 11 points apiece.

Bryce Bultman made 5 of 8 field goal tries, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds in his final home game. (MVSmith/MRO)

Anderson Mirambeaux led Miami with 13 points. (MVSmith/MRO)

The RedHawks dug a huge hole for themselves early in Tuesday's lopsided loss to Toledo. That didn't happen on Senior Night against Ohio as MU jumped in front early. With the help of a 10-0 run, Miami led by 13 points following a Darweshi Hunter layup at 3:20.

The hosts, however, would not score another point in the period. Ohio, meanwhile, helped itself with a pair of steals during a 12-0 run to finish the half. By night's end, the 'Cats would register 12 steals and force 18 RedHawk turnovers. 

Ohio, which connected on just 25 percent from the field before intermission, cut Miami's lead to just one, 27-26, at the break. It was a different story in the second half as Ohio knocked down 55.1 percent of its shots from the field. Conversely, Miami dropped from 40 percent in the first period to 34.3 percent in the final stanza. 

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Darweshi Hunter finished the regular season averaging 11.7 ppg. (MVSmith.MRO)

Hadaway's three at 18:49 gave the 'Cats their first lead. Elmer responded with a triple at the other end to knot things at 30-all. 

When Hadaway drained another trey at 18:10, Ohio moved in front for good. A 14-0 Bobcats run, starting at 14:20, was the knockout punch, putting the visitors in front by 18 (56-38) with 10:07 remaining. 

Ohio's advantage got as high as 22 points (5:56) after a layup by Ajay Sheldon and it was back to 18 before two late MU baskets closed to gap to a final of 72-59 (13 points).

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