MIAMI BASKETBALL

RedHawks host improving Huskie team 

NIU showing signs of turning the corner

By MIKE SMITH
Suffice it to say the Miami RedHawks will be favored to bounce back with a win Tuesday. 
Their opponent is Northern Illinois, which won five of its first six games this season. Since that time, they've recorded two wins in fifteen outings. 

Of course, the only MAC win came just last Saturday when NIU downed Eastern Michigan 76-66. Perhaps equally notable is that several days earlier, the Huskies took Central Michigan into two overtimes before falling 84-77. The Chippewas are tied for second place among MAC teams. 

Are the Huskies starting to put it all together? If nothing else, the past week . . . 

---

. . . suggests they are still dangerous, and while NIU still has 10 games to go, it needs to start making up some ground in order to reach an eight-team MAC tournament field. 

Miami, meanwhile, is tied with Western Michigan (also 5-5 MAC) for sixth place. Including WMU, the RedHawks' five losses have all been to the MAC's top six teams. Ironically, Miami's only win among that group was over No. 1 Akron. 

Here's more on the MU vs NIU matchup . . . 

--  Northern Illinois is coming off a 76-66 win over Eastern Michigan in DeKalb.
The Eagles led 32-28 at intermission, but NIU moved in front on a Zarique Nutter layup with 17:00 remaining and never trailed again. 
-- EMU had three more field goals and one more trey. However, the Huskies had a huge advantage at the free throw line. Eastern Michigan made 13 of 17 charity tosses, while NIU hit 30 of 35 from the stripe. 
-- The Huskies rank fourth among MAC teams in free throws attempted, fifth in free throws made and ninth in free throw percentage (67.9%). 
-- Northern Illinois owned a 40-34 rebound advantage. 
-- The Huskies rank fifth in scoring (76.7 ppg) and 11th in scoring defense (79.7 ppg). 
-- Northern Illinois has connected on 45.6 percent (sixth MAC) from the field and 33.9 percent (eighth) on 3-point shots. 
-- Guard David Coit ranks fourth among MAC scorers (19.1 ppg). Nutter is 10th (15.4 ppg) and Amos 15th (13.7 ppg). 
-- Yanik Konan Niederhauser, a 6-11 sophomore, leads the MAC in blocked shots (2.2 per game).

-- Miami is coming off a 78-69 road loss to Ohio. MU has not won in Athens since 2011.
-- The Bobcats shot 52.9 percent from the field and 51.7 percent on treys. Fifteen of their 27 made field goals on the day were 3-pointers. 
-- Miami's last lead (27-25) was at 6:55 of the first half following a Bradley Dean basket. The RedHawks trailed by 12 in the second period before pulling within three late. Three foul shots and a trey quickly inflated the lead back to nine points and Ohio finished with that winning margin. 
-- Anderson Mirambeaux leads RedHawk scorers, averaging 13.9 ppg in 20.9 minutes of action. Darweshi Hunter (12.5 ppg) is the only other RedHawk averaging double figures. 
-- Bryce Bultman leads MU rebounders (5.3 rpg) while averaging 22 minutes per contest. He is scoring at an average of 8.5 ppg. 
-- Junior guard Bradley Dean scored 10 points against Ohio. It was his second game back since going down with an injury Jan. 2. He has connected on 19 of 42 (45.2%) 3-point tries this season. He has also recorded 17 steals and 22 assists while committing 14 turnovers. 
-- Miami is eighth (MAC)  in scoring (73.5 ppg), fourth in scoring defense (71.4 ppg). It is second in 3-point percentage (37.1%).
-- MU is third among MAC teams in defending the three (31.0%). However, Ohio hit 51.7 percent of its triples Saturday. Ohio tops the MAC in made threes (8.8 per game) and made 15 against Miami. 
-- Mirambeaux scored 16 against Ohio and has reached double figures in eight of 10 MAC contests. 
-- Ohio and Miami will finish their regular seasons Friday, March 8 in Oxford. They are currently just one game apart in the standings. 
-- After Northern Illinois, MU travels to Georgia State Saturday, Feb. 10. for a non-conference game. It will then have a week off before resuming MAC play again Ball State in Oxford.