KENT, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team battled back from a slow start, but too many turnovers, and Kent State hitting key shots when it looked like the RedHawks were about to make a run led to a 74-61 Golden Flashes victory on Tuesday. Miami is now 10-17 overall and 3-11 in the Mid-American Conference. Kent State is 18-10 overall and 8-7 in the MAC.
The RedHawks had a good night from the field, finishing 23-for-49 (46.9 percent). They were 11-for-25 (44.0 percent) from behind the arc. Miami was hurt by 16 turnovers, snapping a three-game streak where it kept its total turnovers in single digits.
A tough start for Miami saw it fall behind, 11-0, only three and a half minutes into the contest. Redshirt sophomore guard
Isaiah Coleman-Lands ended the scoring drought with back-to-back threes. After a bucket for the Golden Flashes, a triple from senior forward
Bam Bowman cut the deficit to four. An old-fashioned three-point play by redshirt junior forward
Precious Ayah made it 13-12 with 12:48 left in the half.
Sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy tied the game with a triple, while Bowman hit his second three-pointer of the game to give the RedHawks their first lead at 18-17 at the 11:23 mark. The teams traded buckets with junior guard Nike Sibande making it 22-21 in favor of Miami. Kent State took advantage of a RedHawk scoring drought to go on a 15-5 run and push the advantage back to nine at 36-27. Layups from Lairy and redshirt junior Milos Jovic helped MU go into the break down by only seven at 38-31.
A layup by freshman guard Dae Dae Grant cut the deficit to five to begin the second half. The Golden Flashes responded with a 13-4 run to create their largest lead at 51-37 with 14:35 to go.
Buckets from Grant and Lairy helped get Miami's offense going again. Triples from Sibande and redshirt freshman guard Myja White, along with a jumper by Jovic got the lead under double digits at 57-49 at the 9:52 mark. The RedHawks got it under single digits twice more after another jumper from Jovic and a three-pointer from Coleman-Lands, but each time Kent State responded with a bucket of its own to push the advantage back into double digits.
Trailing by 13, a three-pointer from White and a free throw by senior forward Bam Bowman made it 67-58 with 4:54 to go, but Miami was unable to pull any closer.
The RedHawks were led by Coleman-Lands with 12 points. Jovic finished with nine points, while Sibande scored eight. Antonio Williams led the Golden Flashes with 17 points.
Miami returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Central Michigan. This game was rescheduled after the postponement of their Jan. 28 contest. Tickets for the previous contest will be honored for this one. To purchase tickets to the game click HERE. Opening tip is at 7 p.m.
