Miami Opens Home Season Against No. 17 Temple On Thursday
11/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Match-Up at a Glance
Arena (Seating Capacity): Millett Hall (9,200)
Tipoff: 7:05 p.m. EST
Site: Oxford, Ohio
Television: FOX Sports Net Ohio & FOX Sports Net Pittsburgh
Series Record: 3-0, Temple leads
Probable Starters:
| No. | Name | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown | PPG | RPG | MIN |
| 1 | Matt Jameson | G | 6-1 | 194 | So. | Newport Beach CA | 6.0 | 1.7 | 31.7 |
| 3 | Jason Grunkemeyer | G | 6-5 | 193 | Sr. | Mason OH | 12.0 | 3.5 | 32.5 |
| 52 | Rich Allendorf | C | 6-10 | 267 | Sr. | Cincinnati OH | 5.0 | 4.8 | 20.0 |
| 21 | Eugene Seals | F | 6-6 | 196 | Fr. | Saginaw MI | 5.5 | 3.5 | 24.3 |
| 53 | Mike Ensminger | F | 6-7 | 253 | Sr. | Cincinnati OH | 6.0 | 6.8 | 27.0 |
Off the Bench:
| No. | Player | Pos. | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | Hometown | PPG. | RPG | Min. |
| 2 | Larry Drake | F | 6-5 | 187 | So. | Groveport OH | 3.0 | 1.5 | 10.0 |
| 5 | Julius Johnson | F | 6-5 | 202 | Fr. | W-ville Hts. OH | 3.5 | 1.5 | 14.8 |
| 10 | Doug Williams | G/F | 6-4 | 221 | So. | Piketon OH | |||
| 20 | Ben Helmers | G | 6-1 | 189 | Jr. | Hamilton OH | 3.0 | 1.5 | 7.0 |
| 30 | Doug Davis | G | 6-3 | 188 | Jr. | Columbus OH | 5.8 | 1.0 | 21.5 |
| 31 | Bryan Reed | F | 6-6 | 213 | So. | Terre Haute IN | 0.0 | 2.7 | 10.0 |
| 33 | Brian Edwards | F | 6-7 | 251 | Jr. | Detroit MI | 0.7 | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| 45 | Alex Shorts | F/C | 6-8 | 239 | Jr. | New Orleans LA | 13.3 | 3.0 | 21.3 |
THE GAME:
With just one victory in its first four outings, the road only gets tougher for Miami University's men's basketball team. The RedHawks return home this Thursday, Nov. 30 to tackle nationally ranked Temple, which is coming off a 63-61 loss to top-ranked Duke in the TIVO Preseason NIT championship contest. Thursday's tipoff is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The game is being televised by FOX Sports Net Ohio and FOX Sports Net Pittsburgh. Dave Weekley (play-by-play) and Larry Conley (color analyst) are calling the action for FOX.
Three of Miami's next four games are against clubs that are presently nationally ranked: Temple is No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll; Dayton (Dec. 6) is No. 24 in the AP poll; and Notre Dame (Dec. 9) is No. 11 in both polls. The RedHawks also face Wisconsin-Green Bay during this stretch, hosting the Phoenix, who have defeated Miami the past two seasons, on Dec. 2. Miami is coming off a sixth-place finish at the Puerto Rico Shootout. After opening with a heartbreaking 60-59 loss to Memphis, the RedHawks came back to beat Old Dominion 64-57 in a consolation semifinal. In Saturday's consolation championship (fifth-place game), Miami could not overcome a sluggish performance and fell 54-46 to Indiana State, the 1999-00 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion.
Temple opened the 2000-01 season with four straight victories before nearly upsetting Duke last Friday. The Owls, who return eight letterwinners from last year's 27-6 team, began the season with wins over Delaware (56-49), New Mexico (61-49), Memphis (67-62) and Indiana (69-61) before falling to the Blue Devils.
RADIO (MIAMI SPORTS NETWORK):
All Miami games can be heard on the Miami Sports Network, which is anchored by flagship station WMOH-AM 1450 in Hamilton. Jim Freeman (play-by-play), Joe Barry (color analyst) and Tim Bray (sideline) call the action for the RedHawks. Miami's basketball games can be heard through www.broadcast.com (via internet) and TEAMLINE (via telephone, 1-800-846-4700, access code 5768). Each broadcast begins one-half hour prior to tipoff. The primary MSN affiliates include WMOH-AM (1450), WCKY-AM (1360), WFMG-FM (101.3) and WDAO-AM (1210, day games only).
MIAMI AT MILLETT:
Beginning its 33rd year as Miami's home facility, Millett Hall has been a friendly venue for the RedHawks, especially in the last decade. In the 1990s, Miami was 113-16 for a .876 winning percentage. Three times in the '90s, the RedHawks went unbeaten at home. Last year, however, Miami was just 7-5 at Millett, with all of its losses coming to MAC opponents. It marked the first time since 1988-89 that the RedHawks had lost five home MAC games in a single season. Versus non-conference foes, Miami has won 18 successive games at Millett. The RedHawks' last non-league loss came Dec. 11, 1993 -- a 72-69 setback to Xavier. The last nationally ranked foe to defeat Miami at Millett was No. 4 Cincinnati on Feb. 1, 1993, a 74-68 overtime victory by the Bearcats. All-time, Miami has posted 298 all-time victories versus just 95 losses -- a winning percentage of .758. Miami has won 68 of its last 78 home games.
HOME-OPENING STATS:
Miami has won its last nine home-opening games and is 75-20 overall (.789). The last time the RedHawks opened with a nationally ranked opponent was 1998 when Tennessee visited Millett Hall. The RedHawks won that game versus the 18th-ranked Volunteers, 68-62. Last year, Miami started 1-3, like it has this season, and returned home to defeat Xavier 67-58 in the 1999-00 Millett opener.
THE SERIES:
This is the fourth meeting between the RedHawks and Owls. Temple holds a 3-0 lead in the overall series after defeating Miami 60-47 in last year's season opener in Philadelphia. The Owls other two victories came in tournaments in the late 1960s. Temple defeated Miami 65-60 on Dec. 18, 1967 at the Charlotte Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., and 67-62 on Dec. 27, 1968 at the Motor City Tournament in Detroit. This is the second meeting between Miami's Charlie Coles and Temple's John Chaney.
REDHAWKS VERSUS THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE:
Miami owns a 107-113 all-time record versus Atlantic-10 competition, having played a majority of those contests versus Dayton and Xavier. The RedHawks are 58-60 versus Dayton, 0-4 versus Duquesne, 0-1 versus Fordham, 2-0 versus George Washington, 2-0 vs. LaSalle, 0-3 vs. Temple, 1-1 vs. Virginia Tech and 44-44 vs. Xavier. Miami never has faced UMass, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure or St. Joseph's.
MIAMI COACH CHARLIE COLES:
Head coach Charlie Coles is in his fifth season as Miami's head mentor and his 11th overall as a collegiate head coach. He owns a 170-131 (.565) overall record and a 78-47 (.624) mark at Miami. Coles, the MAC's eighth-winningest coach, directed his first Miami squad to a 21-9 record, a MAC regular-season co-championship, the MAC Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament. He became just the second coach in school history to lead his team to the MAC title, 20 or more wins and the NCAA Tournament in his first season. Following a 17-12 season in 1997-98, Coles guided the RedHawks to one of their best seasons in school history: a 24-8 record, their 20th MAC regular-season crown and a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the NCAA Tourney. Miami finished last year's campaign at 15-15, but despite a No. 9 league seed, Coles directed the RedHawks to a fourth-straight MAC Tournament title game appearance. He is the first coach in MAC history to lead four consecutive teams to the championship round.
Before being named Miami's head coach, he served as an assistant to Herb Sendek for two seasons. From 1985-91, Coles was the head coach at Central Michigan, where he compiled a 92-84 record.
INDIANA STATE GAME RECAP:
In the consolation championship of the Puerto Rico Shootout, Miami fell to Indiana State 54-46. After charging to an early 10-2 lead versus the Sycamores, Miami's offense slowed, scoring just 36 points in the final 36 minutes. The RedHawks sank five of their first six field goals to jump ahead by eight points at the 16:18 mark of the first half. Miami then went 15-for-46 (32.6 percent) from the floor the rest of the way. Despite its offensive woes, the RedHawks trailed by just nine points (48-39) with just over four minutes remaining. Down the stretch, however, Miami could get no closer than six points. Junior guard Doug Davis (Columbus, Ohio/Westland) came off the bench to lead Miami in scoring with a career-high 11 points. Freshman forward Eugene Seals (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw), who was making his second collegiate start, added 10 points in his best offensive outing to date.
Indiana State, the defending Missouri Valley Conference champion, shot 55.6 percent (10 of 18) and committed just five turnovers in the second half. The Sycamores also held a 17-2 second-half advantage in free throw attempts.
TV TIME:
A minimum of 10 Miami games will be televised this season on either local, regional or national TV. Additionally, should the RedHawks have success in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the number of TV games could grow to as many as 13, giving Miami its largest number of telecasts in school history. For the second straight year, the RedHawks feature a local TV package with Cincinnati's CBS affiliate, WKRC-TV. Home games versus Dayton and Bowling Green, as well as a road contest at nationally ranked Notre Dame, will be televised live by WKRC. In addition to several other regional appearances on either FOX or ESPN Plus, Miami will make its first regular-season national TV appearance since Jan. 10, 1997 (at Cincinnati) when it plays at Ball State on Feb. 11. That game will be televised by ESPN2.
SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE:
Earlier this month, the RedHawks signed two frontcourt players for the 2001-02 season. Miami has received national letters-of-intent from 6-foot-11, 300-pound center Nate Vandersluis of Oak Harbor, Ohio, and 6-foot-5, 220-pound forward Danny Horace of Western Hills High in Cincinnati. "These are a couple great additions to our frontcourt," says Coles. "We were looking for some inside help and we got it in these two players."
Vandersluis averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game as a junior at Oak Harbor. The Rockets went 14-7 last year before losing in the first round of the playoffs. "Nate is a very versatile player for someone his height," says Coles. "Usually a guy with that size would be a low-post player only. But Nate can do some things from the high post as well. He has great hands and great feet. Miami hasn't had a player of Nate's size and skills since Wayne Embry was here. He's definitely what we needed." Several scouting services have Vandersluis ranked among the top centers in the Midwest.
Horace, named to Street and Smith's all-metro Cincinnati preseason team, averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds per game last year for Western Hills. He is also considered one of Ohio's top players heading into the 2000-01 season.
"Danny is a ferocious rebounder and competitor," says Coles. "He can hit the 15-foot jump shot and also drive to the basket. He's probably one of the better high school rebounders in the Midwest right now. Danny is a little similar to Eugene Seals, one of our current freshman. He's a hard worker and good player." Prep Spotlight has Horace ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the state and the No. 3 power forward.
MIAMI BY THE NUMBERS:
2000-01 ... Streaks ... Charlie Coles (Miami only) ... Overall: 1-3 Lost 1 78-47 MAC: 0-0 Won 1 45-27 Home: 0-0 Lost 2 41-8 Road: 0-1 Lost 1 24-31 Neutral: 1-2 Lost 1 13-8
'HAWKS GET THE WORM:
Anyone who wants to catch a RedHawk practice this fall better set their alarms. Due to the academic schedules of several of its players, Miami is practicing at 6:30 a.m. each weekday during the fall semester. "It's really worked out well," said Coles. "Our players have done a great job adapting to the change -- it hasn't been a problem whatsoever."
SHINING SCHOLAR:
Earlier this fall, Miami's Mike Ensminger (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) received one of the ultimate scholar-athlete honors of the 2000-01 season. Ensminger, who carries a 3.81 cumulative GPA in political science (pre-law), was tabbed Playboy's Anson Mount Scholar Athlete of the Year. Playboy will donate $5,000 to Miami University's general scholarship fund in Ensminger's name. A candidate for Verizon Academic All-America honors, Ensminger is the third straight Mid-American Conference athlete to earn a Playboy scholar-athlete award. Last year, Marshall's Chad Pennington was the 1999 Anson Mount football recipient, while Northern Illinois' T.J. Lux was the 1999-00 basketball honoree.
Through four games, Ensminger leads the RedHawks in field goal percentage (.579) and rebounding (6.8 per game). He is averaging 6.0 points per game, which is tied for third on the Miami scoring chart.
JAMESON STEADIES THE 'HAWKS:
Point guard Matt Jameson (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor), who sat out the RedHawks' season-opening game at Xavier due to a one-game team disciplinary suspension, was one of the RedHawk bright spots in Puerto Rico. He entered the Memphis game midway through the first half and never returned to the bench. Jameson ended up playing a career-high 32 minutes, equaling his entire freshman season total for minutes played. He also scored a career-high 9 points against the Tigers. For the tournament, Jameson averaged 6.0 ppg, shot 62.5 percent from the field (5-of-8), shot 87.5 percent from the foul line (7-of-8) and sported an assist/turnover ratio of 10-to-4. He earned his first collegiate start vs. Old Dominion and finished with 5 points, 1 assist and 3 turnovers in 31 minutes of action.
ALLENDORF HONORED:
Senior center Rich Allendorf (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) was the first men's basketball player to be honored as the MAC's Scholar Athlete of the Week this year. He earned the honor following his career-high 14-point outing in the season-opening game at Xavier. He sank 7 of 10 field goals against the Musketeers. Allendorf also grabbed six rebounds and blocked a shot. For the season, he is averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while shooting 56.3 percent from the field.
GRUNKEMEYER ONE OF NATION'S BEST:
Despite being slowed throughout his career with injury problems, Miami senior Jason Grunkemeyer has proven in his RedHawk career he is one of the nation's best long-range shooters. He finished his junior season with the country's 13th-best three-point percentage at .462. Through two-plus seasons, he sits atop the RedHawks' career three-point field goal percentage chart with a .459 mark (84-of-183). Wally Szczerbiak is second on the all-time list with a .431 figure.
In the opening round of the Puerto Rico Shootout versus Memphis, Grunkemeyer played a career-high 39 minutes and scored a game-high 24 points, two shy of his career-best performance (26 at Buffalo, Feb. 26, 2000). He sank 8-of-13 field goals (3-of-5 treys) and 5-of-5 free throws. He tallied 14 points in the RedHawks' win over Old Dominion.
THE LONG AND SHORT(S) OF IT:
Junior college transfer Alex Shorts (New Orleans, La./San Jacinto College) made his long-awaited debut vs. Memphis in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Shootout. After suffering a third-degree ankle sprain on Oct. 27 and sitting out three-plus weeks of practice, Shorts returned to practice on Nov. 20. In his first Miami game, he hit 2-of-6 field goal attempts and 3-of-7 free throws for 7 points. He followed up that outing with a stellar effort against Old Dominion. Shorts sank 8 of 14 field goals and 10 of 12 free throws for 26 points. He closed the tourney with 7 points and 3 rebounds against Indiana State. For his efforts, Shorts earned Puerto Rico Classic all-tourney honors.
ROOKIE NEWS:
Miami's Julius Johnson (Warrensville Heights, Ohio/Warrensville Heights) became the first freshman to start a RedHawk season-opening contest since Damon Frierson duplicated the feat on Nov. 25, 1995 at Eastern Kentucky. Like Frierson, Johnson tallied 12 points in his collegiate debut. He also added 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block against Xavier. Johnson sank 6-of-11 field goals, but was 0-for-2 from three-point range.
Another freshman, Eugene Seals (Saginaw, Mich./Saginaw), earned his first collegiate start against Old Dominion on Nov. 24. Seals had 5 points and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes against the Monarchs. He made his second successive start in the consolation final vs. Indiana State and scored a career-high 10 points. Against Memphis, he totaled 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block in the RedHawks' one-point loss to the Tigers.
26 AND COUNTING:
In the last quarter of a century, Miami has not fared well in regular-season tournaments. The RedHawks have now gone 26 consecutive tourneys without winning a single championship. Ten times during that stretch Miami reached the championship round, but lost in the title game. Nine of the 10 championship games were played on the opponents' home court. The Red and White's last regular-season tourney title came Dec. 28, 1974 at Evansville.
Miami's last regular-season tournament appearance occurred Dec. 22-23, 1998 at the Fresno State Coors Light Classic.
The RedHawks will have to wait at least another year before shooting for a regular-season tournament crown.
LONG-RANGE ISSUES?:
It is still early in the season, but after four games, the RedHawks are concerned with their perimeter shooting. Miami is sinking just 23.3 percent of its three-point attempts and producing 2.5 treys per game, which ranks last in the MAC. The RedHawks' best three-point performance came against Memphis when they shot 37.5 percent for the game and made three treys. (3-for-8). Jason Grunkemeyer, who has missed his last eight three-point attempts dating to the closing minutes of the Memphis game, is shooting 29.4 percent from long range (5-of-17) while the remainder of the team is a combined 5-of-26 for 19.2 percent.
Last year, the RedHawks poured in 7.4 threes per outing and sank 222 three-pointerstheir second highest single-season total.
OUT OF CHARACTER:
Besides the perimeter shooting woes, Miami is making too many mistakes for its defensive-oriented, halfcourt style of play. After four games, the RedHawks own a 41-to-64 assist/turnover ratio, which ranks last in the MAC. Miami is averaging 16.0 turnovers per game after turning it over just 11.0 times per game a year ago. In 1999-00, Temple led the nation with 9.8 mistakes per game, while Miami was second (11.0) and Wisconsin, third (11.3 per game).
CHARITY TOSSES:
One of Miami's goals for the 2000-01 season was to increase its number of free throw attempts. Last year, Miami averaged a conference-low 16 attempts per game. After shooting just three free throws at Xavier, the RedHawks had 31 attempts vs. Memphis and 24 vs. Old Dominion. Miami then fell back to just four attempts vs. Indiana State. Despite the respective three and four attempts vs. Xavier and Indiana State, Miami has shot two more free throws (62 to 60) than its opponents. Last year, RedHawk opponents shot 189 more free throws than Miami.
SLOW STARTERS:
In its first four games, Miami has trailed at halftime and been forced to come from behind in the second half. On the season, the RedHawks have been outscored 127-99 in the first 20 minutes. In the second half, Miami owns a 124-112 scoring advantage.
ANOTHER RUGGED NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
Each spring, Charlie Coles and his staff attempt to assemble a challenging and MAC-readying non-conference slate of games. After playing one of the nation's toughest non-league schedules last year, the RedHawks have created another formidable slate in 2000-01. (An index by Basketball Times rated the RedHawks' 1999-00 non-conference schedule the fourth toughest in the nation.) Miami is guaranteed to face five non-conference teams that are either ranked or who have received votes in the latest national polls: Xavier, Memphis, Temple, Dayton and Notre Dame. Besides those ranked clubs, Miami faces some other "mid-major" programs that have had recent success: Indiana State, UW-Green Bay, George Mason and UNC Wilmington. Wright State, which knocked off 2000 national champion Michigan State last year, rounds out the RedHawks' non-MAC schedule.
REDHAWKS AT THE NEXT LEVEL:
Three former Miamians are presently playing in the National Basketball Association. Two of the RedHawks' all-America honorees, Ron Harper and Wally Szczerbiak, are respective starters for the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. Ira Newble earned a roster spot with the San Antonio Spurs last month.
STREAKING:
- After winning four of its last five games of the 1999-00 season to finish at 15-15, Miami enters this year having recorded nine straight seasons with .500 or better records.
- The RedHawks have drained at least one three-point field goal in 362 consecutive games. The streak dates to Feb. 24, 1988.
