Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

PHOTO GALLERY

By Alex Keil

OXFORD, Ohio -- Back in the friendly confines of Millett Hall for the first time this season, the Miami RedHawks used a strong first-half performance to gain a 15-point halftime advantage against the University of Evansville Saturday afternoon and cruised to a 82-58 victory.

After a slow start by both teams, Miami (2-4 overall) found its rhythm as a Kenny Hayes jumper and Julian Mavunga's 3-pointer and lay-up made up a seven-point run as the RedHawks led 7-2 at the first media timeout. Evansville came back firing but strong drives and finishes by Rodney Haddix, Adam Fletcher, and Nick Winbush soon pushed the Miami lead to 16-6. The next few minutes became a see-saw battle as Evansville attempted to rally behind lay-ups off of consecutive Ned Cox assists but each Purple Aces basket seemed to have a Miami answer as the RedHawks owned the paint in the early going.

Julian Mavunga's second trey of the half forced an Evansville timeout at the six-minute mark as Miami took a 29-16 lead. Miami continued its inspired play out of the timeout as an Orlando Williams lay-up and free throw extended the lead to 34-17. A Rodney Haddix jump shot at the 2:08 mark of the half gave Miami its largest advantage at 42-23 before a brief Evansville rally cut the lead to 42-27 at the break.

It was a total team effort in the first half for the RedHawks, who shot .516 from the floor and had eight different players score. Strong play inside also was a major factor as Miami converted four lay-ups while being fouled and stayed even on the boards with the Purple Aces.

The second half began with more of the same as Mavunga stole the ball and drove the length of the floor for an acrobatic lay-in. After being fouled and converting on the free throw, the RedHawks led 45-27. Evansville quickly got back into the game with a 9-0 run that cut the lead in half before Haddix personally scored the next eight Miami points. The rest of the RedHawks then followed his lead as they began a stretch of hot shooting behind three consecutive 3-pointers by Mavunga, Hayes, and Winbush that saw the lead climb all the way to 25 at 66-41.

A lay-up by Williams off of a Hayes assist with 4:59 left gave him nine points in the game and set a career high for the freshman. Mavunga also set a career high with 18 points. The RedHawk sophomores's 10 rebounds gave him his third double-double in four games.

For the game, the RedHawks out-rebounded the Purple Aces by a 36-30 margin, who had come in outrebounding their opponents by an average of more than 14 per game.

The 82 points set a season high for the RedHawks, who continue a three-game home-stand on Wednesday night at Millett Hall against the Dayton Flyers. The game is set to tipoff at 7:00 p.m.

--www.MURedHawks.com--