On Senior Night this past Saturday in Oxford, Ohio, the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks sent their veterans off their home court for the last time in style. Just 10 minutes into the game, Senior Night became a huge success.
The RedHawks (15-12, 10-4 Mid-American Conference) easily defeated the Bulls (11-17, 3-11 MAC) 80-68, in a game Miami controlled comfortably the entire way. The loss gives the Bulls a winless season on the road against conference opponents and a 4-11 mark for the season away from Alumni Arena.
Buffalo fell behind quickly in the first half and never recovered. Following two free throws from senior forward Yassin Idbihi, the Bulls saw themselves down 5-4 just over five minutes into the game. This would be the closest the Bulls would come to Miami the rest of the way.
Over a five-minute span the Bulls allowed Miami to go on an 18-2 run and found themselves behind by 17 points just 10 minutes into the game.
"They played with a tremendous amount of energy," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "In the first half we really didn't establish ourselves around the basket at all. They stepped it up a notch. We didn't respond well."
Buffalo chipped away at the lead throughout the rest of the half, getting the margin down to 12 following a three-point basket from sophomore guard Eric Moore just seconds before halftime, however the momentum did not last.
Miami came out hot in the second half, extending their lead to 22 with 11 minutes to play.
Over the next seven minutes the Bulls made a 21-9 run to cut the lead to 10. From there, Buffalo ran out of gas as the RedHawks extended their lead back up to as many as 18 en-route to their 10th conference win of the season.
"We took some chances," Witherspoon said. "In the last seven or eight minutes we went with four guards and one post player. We were able to cut it, but when we got to a point to get it to single digits we just couldn't cut into it."
Poor shooting in the first half put the game out of reach early. Buffalo shot just 10-30 from the field including just 1-9 on three-point attempts in the first half. Though the Bulls were able to shoot better in the second half, they couldn't stop the RedHawks from doing the same.
"A lot of times guys get caught thinking about the wrong things," Witherspoon said. "There are so many things they were able to do in high school that they're not going to be able to do if they are not working as hard as they possibly can. Were not going anywhere without a tremendous amount of effort."
Sophomore guard Andy Robinson proved to be the only bright spot for the Bulls. Robinson set a new career-high for points, finishing with 21, including four shots from three-point range in the second half. Idbihi added 14 points and nine rebounds despite shooting just 3-10 from the field.
"Our team has to learn," Witherspoon said. "If we don't compete as hard as we can every minute we're out there, then were susceptible. We have a few guys who haven't learned that and there were a couple guys we had to take out of the rotation."
Buffalo suffered due to foul trouble and did not get going on offense the entire way. Both Moore and freshman guard Byron Mulkey fouled out of the game, with Mulkey playing just 22 minutes.
"It's especially difficult if we can only play Byron Mulkey only 21 minutes," Witherspoon said. "He played half the game. It seemed that when he got in a position to assert himself, there was a foul."
Miami shot 53 percent for the game and 59 percent in the second half. The free throw line proved kind to Miami as the RedHawks shot 76 percent for the game and 15-17 in the second half.
Miami celebrated Senior Day in grand fashion as senior forward Nathan Peavy went over the 1,000 point mark for his career, finishing with a team-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Tim Pollitz, half of the Pollitz brothers' combination along with twin Eric, scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Buffalo will wrap up regular season play with their last two games at home against the Akron Zips and Ohio Bobcats. The Bulls will tip-off against the Zips on Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
