MIAMI BASKETBALL NOTES

RedHawks need rubber match win to advance 

The Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins Thursday. It's three days of brutal competition for the most fortunate. The ultimate winner gets an NCAA tournament berth. The losers? MAYBE . . . a lesser tournament invitation. 
​
For the eight who qualified for Cleveland, past records have no bearing -- beyond seeding -- on this week. Even seeding is of suspect value. 
The Miami RedHawks, for example, are . . 

---

​. . . a No. 2 seed. That matches them up with No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan in Thursday's third game. (ESPN+) 
NOTE: No 1 Akron faces No. 8 Bowling Green at 11:00 a.m. Succeeding games start 30 minutes after the previous game ends. ​

While Miami went 14-4 in conference play, EMU registered a 9-9 record. 

Here are some more items of note in the matchup:
• Two EMU players earned post-season MAC honors. Senior forward Spencer Nelson and senior guard Jalen Terry were named Second-Team All-MAC.
• Miami junior guard Peter Suder was a First Team All-MAC honoree. Kam Craft earned Second Team All-MAC honors, and freshman Brant Byers was named MAC Freshman of the Year. 
• Eastern Michigan won five of its last seven games, while MU went 4-3 down the stretch. 
• Among the Eagles five wins in that span were victories over Toledo, Miami, and Ohio -- all teams with higher seeds. 
• The RedHawks and Eagles split their two game series this year. MU won by eight in Oxford (Jan. 28) and EMU prevailed by 10 in Ypsilanti Feb. 18. 
• In the first meeting, Miami led by nine at intermission and expanded its advantage to 20 points with 15:29 to go. The visiting Eagles closed to within nine at the final horn. 
 -- The RedHawks owned a 37-32 rebounding edge, while EMU out-scored Miami 34-30 in the paint.  
 -- Miami shot 19 more free throws, sinking 28 of 40 while the Eagles made 16 of 21. 
--  Six RedHawks reached double figures, with Antwone Woolfolk (21 points) leading the way. Junior guard Christian Henry topped EMU with 25 points. Only two others reached double figures.
• In the second meeting, Eastern Michigan connected on 50 percent from the field overall, The Eagles recorded four more rebounds, one more field goal and two more treys as Miami made just 6 of 26 attempts (23.1%) from beyond the arc. 
 -- Eastern Michigan also made six more free throws, going 16 of 19 at the stripe, while MU was 10 of 16. 
-- In a another reverse of the first meeting, it was EMU that held a huge (22 points) lead before a late close by the visitors. 
-- Woolfolk, who led MU with 21 points against EMU in Oxford, went scoreless at Eastern Michigan. In fact, he took just one shot in 18 minutes. 
-- EMU's Da'Sean Nelson (25) and Terry (24) combined for 49 points and 17 rebounds in the second meeting. Eian Elmer (19) and Kam Craft (11) were the only RedHawks in double figures.