Miami Continues Road Swing at Buffalo
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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REDHAWKS CONTINUE ROAD TRIP AT BUFFALO: Playing the second game of a two-game road swing, Miami travels to Buffalo for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 17. The game will be televised on ESPN3. This is the second time the teams face each other in 10 days with the previous meeting coming in the MAC opener in Oxford on Jan. 7 with the Bulls notching a 79-72 win.
ROARING 20s: Junior guard Eric Washington and senior guard Will Sullivan have combined for five of Miami’s six 20-point scoring efforts this season. Washington has scored more than 20 points three times this season, including a 23-point performance at Central Michigan on Jan. 14. He also notched 23 points against UMKC on Jan. 3 and 24 points at IPFW on Dec. 6. Sullivan has two 20-point efforts this season with 21 points against Buffalo on Jan. 7 and in the season opener against Southern Utah. Sullivan has five 20-point scoring efforts for his career.
ABOUT BUFFALO: The Bulls enter Saturday’s game with an 11-4 mark and are coming off an 82-63 win against Northern Illinois at home on Wednesday to move to 5-0 at Alumni Arena. Justin Moss paces the Bulls, averaging a MAC-leading 17.4 ppg and 9.3 rpg. His rebound average ranks 29th nationally. Shannon Evans follows at 16.2 ppg and team-best 5.0 apg. Jarryn Skeete is the other Bull averaging double figures in scoring at 10.5 ppg. As a team, the Bulls rank 22nd nationally in made free throws, hitting 283 through 15 games.
THE SERIES WITH THE BULLS: Saturday marks the 36th meeting between Miami and Buffalo with the RedHawks owning a 22-13 lead in the all-time series. When playing in Buffalo the series is tied, 8-8. The Bulls have won the last four meetings between the teams, including a 79-72 win in Oxford on Jan. 7 and a 78-55 win in Buffalo last season. Miami’s last win in the series also was its last win at Alumni Arena, which was on Jan. 12, 2013, 58-57.
UP NEXT: The RedHawks return home to host Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 21 before hitting the road for games at Northern Illinois (Jan. 24) and at Toledo (Jan. 27). Miami then returns home for two straight when the RedHawks host Ball State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 and Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
MAC NUGGETS: Through three Mid-American Conference games, Miami has produced some solid numbers as a team and individually. Miami ranks second in league-only contests in field-goal percentage (.472), third in scoring offense (77.0) and ties for first in assists (15.3). Individually in MAC-only games, junior guard Eric Washington ties for fifth in scoring (17.0), fourth in free-throw percentage (.864), second in minutes played (38.0) and leads the MAC in assists (7.3). Senior guard Will Sullivan leads the MAC in 3-point field-goal percentage (.692), ties for fourth in 3-pointers (3.0) and 10th in scoring (14.7). Junior center LJ Livingston Jr. ranks second in field-goal percentage (.800) and ties for third in blocked shots (2.0), while junior guard Geovonie McKnight ties for third in steals (2.3).
STEALING THE SHOW: Last season, Miami led the MAC and finished 10th in the country in steals, averaging 8.6 per game. The RedHawks are off to a strong start in the category in 2014-15. Miami ranks second in the MAC and 26th nationally in steals, averaging 8.4 per game. The RedHawks had a season-high 15 steals against Longwood on Dec. 17. Junior guard Geovonie McKnight ranks fifth in the MAC in steals, averaging 1.7 per game.
REDHAWKS DOING DOUBLE TIME: Five RedHawks scored in double figures as Miami pulled out an 82-81 come-from-behind win against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 10. Junior guard Eric Washington led the way against the Eagles with 18 points, followed closely by senior guard Will Sullivan’s 17 points and sophomore guard Jaryd Eustace’s season-high 16 points. Junior guard Geovonie McKnight chipped in 12 points and junior center LJ Livingston Jr. added 11 points. It was Eustace’s first double figure scoring effort of the season and the third for Livingston. Miami has had four players score in double figures in three other games this season, including the RedHawks MAC opener against Buffalo on Jan. 7.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Junior guard Eric Washington is averaging 5.3 apg to rank second in the MAC and 42nd nationally in assist per game. He has posted five or more assists in 10 of Miami’s 16 games this season. In MAC games, Washington is averaging a league-leading 7.3 apg. Washington recorded a career-high 10 assists against Buffalo on Jan. 7, the most by a RedHawk since Quinten Rollins’ 10 versus James Madison on Nov. 24, 2012. Other top assist performance include handing out eight assists against Southern Utah in the season opener and against Dayton on Dec. 3 in addition to seven against Capital on Dec. 29. He has compiled 85 assists this season.
3 FOR 3: Number 3 Will Sullivan has been a long-range force for the RedHawks. Sullivan knocked down 6-of-8 triples in the opener against Southern Utah, hitting his last six attempts and going 5-for-5 in the second half. His six treys tied for 10th on Miami’s single-game chart. Over a stretch of three halves in Miami’s first two games, Sullivan connected on seven consecutive 3-point attempts. On the season, Sullivan is shooting 48.8 percent from 3-point range (39-of-80) to rank second. In MAC-only games, he leads the league at 69.2 percent (9-of-13).
COMEBACK KIDS: It’s no secret that Miami has had strong second-half efforts and played some of its best basketball in the second stanza, but the RedHawks staged one of the most impressive comebacks in Miami basketball history when they erased a 25-point deficit against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 10 to force overtime against the Eagles where they seized the one-point win. EMU notched its largest lead of the game with 5:55 to go in the first half, 39-14, and held a 21-point lead with 18:31 to go in the second half, 51-30. Miami outrebounded EMU 27-12 and outscored it 52-32 over the final 25 minutes of the contest.
TRIPLE THREAT: Junior guard Eric Washington drained two 3-pointers over the last 11 seconds of regulation to cap a remarkable RedHawk comeback against Eastern Michigan to send the game into overtime. He sunk three of his 13 triples this season against the Eagles.
DOUBLED UP: After no double-doubles for the RedHawks through 13 games, Miami had players compile them in back-to-back games. Junior guard Eric Washington recorded 10 points and 10 assists against Buffalo on Jan. 7 for Miami’s first double-double of the season. Washington was two rebounds short of a triple-double, hauling in a career-high eight boards. Senior guard Will Sullivan followed that with a 17-point, 12-rebound effort in a remarkable comeback win against Eastern Michigan on Jan. 10. Sullivan’s 12 boards were a career high and the most by a RedHawk this season.
20/20 VISION: Two RedHawks recorded 24 points apiece in Miami’s game at IPFW on Dec. 6. Junior guards Willie Moore and Eric Washington combined for 48 of the RedHawks’ 78 points against the Mastodons. Moore, coming off a 14-point performance against Dayton, had a season high night for the second straight game and tied his career high with the 24 points. He drained a career-best nine field goals and tied a career most with four 3-pointers, hitting four triples for the second straight game. Washington was 13-of-14 from the free-throw line for the RedHawks and went 5-of-7 from the floor.
WASHINGTON NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Junior guard Eric Washington was named to the Riviera Bracket All-Tournament Team at the Cancun Challenge.
JUNIOR LEAGUE: There are no shortage of juniors on the Miami roster this season. Of its 18-player roster, Miami has eight active juniors and nine total juniors this season. However, only guard Geovonie McKnight has played all three years at Miami. Center John Hawkins has been with the program for three years but sat out his first season after transferring from Palm Beach Atlantic. Guard Willie Moore joined the team last season and played in 22 games for the RedHawks in 2012-13, while forward Brian Oddo also joined the team last year. Guard Eric Washington joined the team last year but sat out after transferring from Presbyterian College. Miami added three junior college transfers this year in forwards Chris Bryant, LJ Livingston, Jr. and Kalif Wright. Walking on to the team last month but sitting out after transferring to Miami is guard Jake Bischoff.
HOME COOKIN’: Before the season began Miami was already setting records. The RedHawks will host more games in 2014-15 than in any other season in their 110-year history. Seventeen home games are on the docket for the Red and White this season, including two as part of the Cancun Challenge when the RedHawks hosted Liberty on Nov. 22 and Elon on Nov. 30.
ODDS ‘N ENDS: Miami shot a strong 54 percent from the floor in the 105-77 loss at Central michigan ... the RedHawks’ overtime win against Eastern Michigan was the first overtime win in four tries under head coach John Cooper ... Miami won back-to-back games for the first time since late February 2014 when the RedHawks captured wins against Capital (69-46) on Dec. 29 and UMKC (66-61) on Jan. 3 ... Miami has won four of its last six with its losses coming at the hands of Ohio State and Buffalo during the stretch ... RedHawk returners Will Sullivan (108) and Geovonie McKnight (78) have each played in every game of their respective Miami careers.
A MIAMI WIN WOULD ...
• Be Miami’s fifth win in eight games.
• Be Miami’s first win against Buffalo since Jan. 12, 2013, 58-57.
• Be the RedHawks’ first road win of the season.
A MIAMI LOSS WOULD ...
• Push Buffalo’s record to 6-0 at home this season.
• Be the Bulls’ fifth straight win in the series with Miami.
• Drop Miami to 1-3 in MAC play.
