MIAMI BASKETBALL

Second half 'D' a key in Miami win over Huskies

Season-opening win streak reaches 22 games

Peter Suder celebrates in the closing seconds of Miami's 85-71 win over Northern Illinois. (MVSmith/MRO)

By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Brant Byers scored 21 points and Antwone Woolfolk recorded a double double (14 points, 12 rebounds) to lead Miami over Northern Illinois  85-61 Saturday at sold-out Millett Hall. 
A faciility record crowd of 10,640 watched as MU extended its season-record to 22-0 (10-0 MAC). Miami  and Arizona remain the nation's final two undefeated teams. 

Northern Illinois (7-14, 3-7 MAC) took advantage of poor RedHawk shooting from deep as MU connected on just 25 percent (7 of 28) of its threes for the game and a mere 17.6 percent (3 of 17) in the first half. The RedHawks are averaging 40.1 percent on 3-point shooting for the year. When Gianni Cobb hit a triple at 10:54, Northern Illinois led 26-16.

Miami chipped . . . 

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Justin Kirby slams two of his 10 points. (MVSmith/MRO)

. . . away and caught the Huskies (33-33) following a Woolfolk free throw at 3:23.  Each team owned small leads before Byers, who contributed MU's final six points, scored on a layup with four seconds remaining. That gave the RedHawks a 40-38 edge at intermission. 

The Huskies moved back in front 48-46 on Hassan Washington's triple at 16:31 of the second stanza. They were up by five (52-47) when Miami's offense suddenly found another gear. Two free throws and a bucket by Woolfolk kicked off an 18-2 RedHawks run. Peter Suder's 4-point and-one from the corner helped fuel the run as MU built up an 11-point advantage. 

Northern Illinois trailed by nine (70-61) when Miami went on another rally that sealed the verdict. Justin Kirby's dunk following a Suder steal kicked off a 15-0 run down the stretch, giving MU a, 85-61 win. 

Capitalizing off turnovers was part of Miami's success on the day. The RedHawks outscored NIU 22-7 on points off turnovers. That helped the hosts total eight more field goals (31-23) MU also had one more triple and eight more free throws. Miami went 16 of 20 (80%), while NIU was 9 of 17 ((52.9%). 

In addition to Byers and Woolfolk, three other RedHawks reached double figures. Suder tallied 19 points and registered three steals. Guard Luke Skaljac, who missed MU's last game due to injfury, added 13 points while playing 29 minutes. Kirby chipped in 10 points. 

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Luke Skaljac retrned to the lineup Saturday, scoring 13 points in 29 minutes. (MVSmith/MRO)

"[Luke] makes a huge difference for our team," MU head coach Travis Steele said. "He is an elite playmaker, scorer, confident…he's a great player. He's playing at a very, very, very high level offensively," 

Cobb and Taj Walters led Northern Illinois with 17 points apiece. 

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Miami faces two big tests next week. Both are on the road, but one is out of conference.
The RedHawks visit Buffalo Tuesday (6:30 p.m., ESPN+). They will then play Marshall in Huntington. That is the return match of the MAC-Sun Belt Conference Challenge. 
Northern Illinois is off Tuesday and visits Georgia State (Sun Belt) Saturday. 

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NOTES:
•  The 23 points allowed in the second half was the fewest the RedHawks have yielded since Trinity Christian scored 22 before halftime in November.
Steele, who recently expressed a need for improvment on defense, was not happy with Miami's first half performance against NIU.  "I think our guys at halftime got the message pretty clear," he said afterward. "We've got to start playing defense…our defense in the second half was so much better…

"We made them miss and didn't 'hope' that they would miss. We were just more active. That forced some turnovers, sped them up, [and] allowed us to be able to get out on offense in transition and push the ball, which is the way we want to play.

"That picture we had in the second half of our defense [is what] we need to see moving forward if we want to be able to continue to get the results we want and become the team that we want to become."

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Brant Byers rejects a shot by Gianni Cobb during second half action. (MVSmith/MRO)

•  The sell-out crowd eclipsed the previous attendance record at Millett Hall, a turnout of 10,634 for a game against Cincinnati on Dec. 15, 1976. "This is the best crowd in the MAC, and it's not even close," Steele said after the game. 

​•  Before tipoff, Miami University recognized program legend Ron Harper with the presentation of an honorary doctorate degree. Harper, the leading scorer and rebounder in team history and a five-time NBA champion (three with the Bulls and two with the Lakers), was one of dozens of alumni that returned to Oxford for this weekend's One Miami hoops doubleheader.

"This is a special place," Harper said when he met with the media Saturday afternoon. "This is a college town, a college campus: The kids, the students, the faculty - everyone cares about this place, and that's what makes Miami a special place."

"When I first got here, everybody would always reminisce about Ron Harper. Every fan would come up [and say], 'When Ron Harper was here, this place was sold out,'" Steele said. "They would always talk about him as [a] mythical legend here at Miami…

"To get him back to campus, to give him that degree: Well-deserved. We appreciate him coming back; it means a lot."

Former Miami basketball great Ron Harper (front, right) was celebrated Saturday as he received an honorary degree from the university. Miami president Dr. Gregory Crawford (in red) , wife Dr. Renate Crawford (left) and a host of other fculty members were among a facillity record crowd of over 10,000 on hand for a basketball doubleheader. Harper was presented with his degree between games. (MVSmith/MRO)