Feb. 9, 2010

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REDHAWKS RETURN HOME TO HOST TOLEDO WEDNESDAY: Miami returns home to play three of its next four games when the RedHawks host Toledo at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10. Miami carries a four-game win streak into the contest and is coming off a pair of road wins last week. It rounds out the RedHawks' stretch against the MAC West Division.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Toledo enters Wednesday's game with a 3-21 overall record and a 0-10 Mid-American Conference mark. The Rockets are coming off a close 65-59 loss to Buffalo on Saturday after falling in overtime to Ohio last Thursday, 65-58. Jake Barnett leads the Rockets, averaging 13.6 ppg. Barnett and Justin Anyijong are Toledo's two primary outside threats, hitting 52 and 31 treys on the season, respectively. The duo accounts for 65 percent of the team's 3-pointers this season. Anyijong is the Rockets' leading rebounder, averaging 5.2 rpg on the season. Malcolm Griffin leads the team in steals with 22 on the season, 17 of those coming in MAC play.

THE SERIES WITH TOLEDO: Wednesday marks the 116th meeting between Toledo and Miami with the RedHawks holding a 66-49 lead in the all-time series. The RedHawks have won the last three meetings between the teams, including a 53-40 win at Toledo last season. The Rockets' last win against the RedHawks was in Toledo on Jan. 27, 2007, 61-56. Miami owns a 41-14 mark when playing in Oxford and has won the last four meetings at Millett Hall. Toledo's last win in Oxford came on Feb. 1, 2000, 71-61.

UP NEXT: After heading to Bowling Green for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday, Feb. 14, the RedHawks return home to host their next two games. Miami entertains Akron at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and then hosts its ESPN BracketBuster game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20, facing Southeast Missouri State in the second game of a women's and men's basketball doubleheader.

MIAMI DRAWS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE IN ESPN BRACKETBUSTER: The Miami University RedHawks will host the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks of the Ohio Valley Conference on Saturday, Feb. 20 as part of ESPN BracketBuster Saturday. The game will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with Miami's women's basketball team hosting Buffalo at noon. It is the first meeting between the schools. The RedHawks have been on the road for the last three BracketBusters and have lost their last two BracketBuster matchups. Miami owns a 3-0 record at home in BracketBuster games.

MIAMI ISP SPORTS NETWORK: In its third year of its partnership with ISP Sports Marketing, the Miami ISP Sports Network continues its coverage of Miami men's basketball with a group of affiliates blanketing most of Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana. "The Voice of the RedHawks" Steve Baker delivers the play-by-play coverage, while Joe Barry provides color commentary. Tune in to one of Miami's game-day affiliates: WMOH-AM 1450 (Hamilton, OH), WPFB-FM 105.9 (Middletown, OH), WFMG-FM 101.3 (Richmond, IN), WONE-AM 980 (Dayton, OH).

WEDNESDAY'S HALFTIME ENTERTAINMENT: Wednesday's halftime performance is the fan-favorite Kings Firecrackers, who will be highlighting halftime with their superior jump rope skills.

HAYES TABBED MAC EAST DIVISION CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior guard Kenny Hayes was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Co-Player of the Week on Monday, sharing the honor with Kent State's Chris Singletary. Hayes led Miami in a pair of road wins, averaging 19.0 ppg, while shooting 56 percent from the field, and also averaging 4.0 rpg and 3.0 apg for the week. He led the RedHawks with 16 points at Western Michigan, including the game-winning field goal with 0.8 seconds remaining to lift Miami to a 56-54 win against the Broncos. At Northern Illinois, Hayes led all players with 22 points as the RedHawks clinched a 74-69 win against the Huskies. He shot a superb 60 percent from the field and 60 percent from 3-point range while knocking down 7-of-9 free throws.

COLES BREAKS MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE WIN MARK: With a 79-67 win against Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 16, Miami University Head Coach Charlie Coles broke the Mid-American Conference record for career league wins, which was previously held by former Toledo Head Coach Bob Nichols. The triumph over the Bobcats was Coles' 195th career MAC win with 143 of those coming during his time patrolling the Miami sidelines. Over his 20 years as a coach in the MAC (14 at Miami; 6 at Central Michigan) Coles has amassed a 200-135 league record.

BLOCK PARTY: The RedHawks have recorded 45 blocked shots in their last nine games and recorded eight against Kent State on Jan. 12 and again at Western Michigan on Feb. 2, which tie for sixth-most in a single game in program history. Over the last nine games, nine RedHawks have recorded blocked shots with junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard amassing 13, including a career-high three against Ohio (Jan. 16), sophomore forward/center Julian Mavunga posting 10 and senior center Adam Fletcher recording nine. Junior forward Nick Winbush has notched six, while junior guard Rodney Haddix II and freshman guard Orlando Williams each have two and senior guard Kenny Hayes, sophomore guard Kramer Soderberg and freshman guard Allen Roberts each have one. Miami leads the MAC in blocked shots this season, averaging 3.61 per game. In league-only games Miami also leads the MAC, averaging 4.50 per game as a team, while Ballard ties for sixth in league-only blocks per game (1.30) and Fletcher and Mavunga tie for 10th (1.00).

DOUBLE-TIME: Eleven times this season Miami players have recorded double-doubles with sophomore forward/center Julian Mavunga recording six, which ties for second in the MAC.

Julian Mavunga	Northern Illinois (Feb. 6): 13 pts; 11 rebs
			Bowling Green (Jan. 23): 11 pts; 11 rebs
			at Xavier (Dec. 23): 18 pts; 12 rebs
			Evansville (Nov. 28): 18 pts; 10 rebs
			vs. Nicholls State (11/21): 12 pts; 10 rebs
			vs. Louisiana Tech (11/20): 16 pts; 12 rebs
Adam Fletcher	at Akron (Jan. 20): 11 pts; 10 rebs
			Wright State (Dec. 13): 10 pts; 10 rebs
Antonio Ballard	at Western Michigan (Feb. 4): 10 pts; 10 rebs
			Ohio (Jan. 16): 11 pts; 13 rebs
Nick Winbush	Temple (Dec. 8): 10 pts; 10 rebs

SETTING THE "TONE": Junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard has been stepping up his production. The 6-foot-4 Ballard ties for third in MAC-only games in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and ties for sixth in blocked shots (1.30 bpg). He has had four double-figure rebounding efforts in the last nine games with a career-high 13 boards on Jan. 16 against Ohio and 11 rebounds against Kent State (Jan. 12) and at Ball State (Jan. 26) and 10 at Western Michigan (Feb. 2). Eight of his 11 rebounds against the Golden Flashes came over the final 25 minutes of play. Ballard did a little bit of everything against Bowling Green on Jan. 23, recording nine points, six rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocked shots in 37 minutes of action. He has recorded nine or more points in nine of Miami's last 14 games, including all seven of his double-figure scoring efforts this season.

IT'S BEEN A LONG ROAD: Miami has been in all sorts of games on the road this season and finally earned its first true road win at Western Michigan last Thursday. Miami persevered to seize a gritty 56-54 win at Western Michigan to snap a 15-game losing streak on the road, dating back to Feb. 7 last season when the RedHawks defeated Toledo. It also was the first win for Miami at Western Michigan since the 1998-99 season. The RedHawks added another road win when they downed Northern Illinois 74-69 last Saturday.

MINUTE MAN: Senior guard Kenny Hayes is averaging 35.83 minutes per game and leads the Mid-American Conference in minutes played. Ohio's D.J. Cooper ranks second at 34.83 minutes per game. Junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard ranks 21st, averaging 29.00 minutes per game, while junior forward/center Julian Mavunga ranks 25th, averaging 28.09 minutes per game, and senior center Adam Fletcher ranks 27th, averaging 28.00 minutes per game. Hayes ranks third in the MAC in minutes played in MAC-only games, averaging 36.20 minutes per game, while Ballard is fourth (35.80), Fletcher ties for 22nd (31.00) and Mavunga ranks 25th (29.80).

MINUTE MEN PART II: While several of the RedHawks rank among MAC statistical leaders in minutes played this season, Miami had three players log significant minutes at Western Michigan to help grind out the 56-54 win. With senior center Adam Fletcher sidelined due to injury, sophomore forward/center Julian Mavunga played all 40 minutes--a career high--against the Broncos, posting 14 points, seven boards, two assists and two blocked shots. Junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard notched 39 minutes, playing all 20 in the second half. Ballard recorded his third career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding two blocked shots and a steal to his tally. Senior guard Kenny Hayes played 38 minutes, including all 20 in the second half. Hayes led the RedHawks with 16 points and added five assists, five rebounds and a steal. The RedHawks had six players log 20 or more minutes against the Broncos with three others coming off the bench, playing a combined eight minutes.

DOUBLING UP: Four Miami players have combined to produce 14 double-figure rebounding efforts this season: Sophomore forward/center Julian Mavunga (7), junior guard/forward Antonio Ballard (4), senior center Adam Fletcher (2) and junior forward Nick Winbush (1).

FOR STARTERS: Freshman guard Allen Roberts got his first career start at Buffalo on Jan. 9 and has started each of the last six games. He became the fifth RedHawk this season to earn his first career start, joining freshman guard Orlando Williams, sophomore guard Kramer Soderberg, junior guard Rodney Haddix II and sophomore forward/center Julian Mavunga.

THEY COME IN TWO'S (AND FOUR'S): Eleven times this season, junior forward Nick Winbush has scored in double figures, with the first six paired in back-to-back games. By scoring 13 points against Central Michigan (Jan. 28) and 11 points against Eastern Michigan (Jan. 30), Winbush reached double-figures in scoring in four-straight contests. Winbush scored in double figures in Miami's first two games (11 at Towson; 26 at Kentucky), then Nov. 22 at New Mexico (25) and Nov. 28 vs. Evansville (11) and again on Dec. 8 vs. Temple (10) and Dec. 10 at Cincinnati (13). He recorded 13 points against Bowling Green (Jan. 23) and tallied 10 points at Ball State (Jan. 26) leading into the Central Michigan game. After notching 17 points at Northern Illinois (Feb. 6), Winbush tries to again hit double figures in scoring in back-to-back games.

WORKING OVERTIME: Miami played its first overtime game of the season on Jan. 12, as the RedHawks battled back against Kent State, marking the fifth time the two teams have played extra-minute contests. On Jan. 26, Miami played its second extra-minutes contest, going to double-overtime with Ball State. It was the 11th time the two teams went to overtime with Miami dropping to 7-4 in overtime contests with the Cardinals. Miami has played in 106 overtime games all-time, moving its record to 65-42 in overtime games. Last season the RedHawks played three overtime games, all coming in regular-season conference play, and won two of their three overtime contests.

ROARING 20s: Nine times this season Miami players have amassed 20 or more points in a game. Senior guard Kenny Hayes is the most recent to reach the 20-point plateau, tallying 22 at Northern Illinois (Feb. 6) for his fifth 20-or-more point game this season. Hayes also had 20 vs. Central Michigan (Jan. 28), 24 points at Xavier (Dec. 23), 21 points at Colorado (Jan. 5) and 23 points against Nicholls State (Nov. 21). Junior guard Rodney Haddix II also had a career-high 21 points against Nicholls State. Senior center Adam Fletcher tallied a career-high 21 points at Buffalo (Jan. 9). Additionally, junior forward Nick Winbush twice scored 20-or-more points. Winbush recorded a career-high 26 points at Kentucky (Nov. 16) and 25 points at New Mexico (Nov. 22).

WINBUSH FOR THREE: Junior forward Nick Winbush drilled eight 3-pointers at Kentucky, which ties for third on Miami's single-game charts and set a then-Rupp Arena record for 3-pointers by an opponent. Winbush was an impressive 6-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half and was 8-for-10 from 3-point range for the game. His eight treys tie for the 13th most nationally made by a player in a game this season. He led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. Through 23 games this season, Winbush is 43-of-103 from beyond the arc, nailing 41.7 percent of his 3-point attempts.

A MIAMI WIN WOULD ...
•	Be Miami's fourth straight win in the series with Toledo.
•	Give Miami five-straight wins for the first time this season.
•	Make the RedHawks 6-0 at home in MAC play.

A MIAMI LOSS WOULD ...
•	Snap Miami's four-game win streak.
•	Be Toledo's first MAC win of the season.
•	Be the Rockets' first win since Dec. 10 against IPFW, halting a 14-game skid.