MBB: Miami (OH) Game Notes & Game Thread

[Buffnik]

GAME #14 vs. Miami University RedHawks (3-9, 0-0 MAC) • Date: Tuesday, Jan. 5 • Tipoff: 7:07 p.m. (MST)

Television: FSN Rocky Mountain

Location: Coors Events Center (11,064)

CU Radio: 760-AM

Series vs. Miami: first-ever meeting; CU vs. Mid-American Conference: 2-2

QUICKLY: Tonight’s game is the last non-conference ame of the 2009-10 regular season • CU is 7-0 at home matching the 2005-06 season for consecutive home victories, the last 8-0 start at home was the 1982-83 season (9-0) • Alec Burks last four games: 18 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 33 FG% (24-of-45); .875 FT% -- all team highs • CU is only shooting .385 over the last two games (40-of-104), poorest any two-game total of the season • Cory Higgins holds the top five scoring games • CU is 5-0 when four of the five starters net double-digits • Nate Tomlinson has led CU in assists seven times (twice shared) • CU is 6-1 when shooting over 50 percent from the field • CU has scored over 70 points in 10 of 13 games and are 8-2 in those games.

MIAMI UPDATE: The Redhawks have lost five of six games and are winless on the road this season (0-6). Tonight is Miami’s first game in 12 days and open Mid-American Conference play at Buffalo on Saturday. The RedHawks are the MAC’s winningest team boasting 572- 328 (.636) record.

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This Miami (OH) team is better than its record and has some athletes. They gave Kentucky a close call (and probably would have won if not for some questionable home cooking referee action). Should be a good test tonight in what would be a very important win for CU's chances this season.

 

[Scotch]

A 'must win' tonight.

 

[JimmyBuff]

I don't get why I don't get this game on DTV..

It must be because its an FSN broadcast and its not an ESPN Full Court production.

 

[Buffnik]

32-25 Buffs at the break. Very well played 1st 20 minutes by our guys. We badly need to close this out with a win.

 

[OUBuff]

I don't get why I don't get this game on DTV..

It must be because its an FSN broadcast and its not an ESPN Full Court production.

If you go to FSN you will see that it is the Big 12 ESPN contract that only allows certain ESPN approved games to be televised out of state by FSN. This ain't one... again.

 

[buff4bcs1985]

did we win?

 

[Buffnik]

We won 67-65. M-OH missed a 3 at the buzzer (had a good look at it, too). We actually got jobbed by some absolutely horrible officiating down the stretch.

First, they mistakenly called a foul on Relphorde that sent him to the bench with 4 during crunch time. He had been our leading scorer on the night. A couple minutes later (with 3 minutes left in the game), they realized it was supposed to have been on Thorne and Relphorde only had 3 against him.

Second, they called so few fouls on M-OH that we weren't even in the 1-and-1 bonus until there was a minute left in the game.

Third, with less than a minute left they called Nate for a total bull**** foul. He was face guarding their PG to prevent the inbounds to him, had good position, and the M-OH guy pushed him out of bounds. The ref called a foul on Nate what sent the M-OH guy to the FT line for 2 (they'd been in the double-bonus for a while). Ref gave away 2 points at 20 seconds left in the game when the right call was a no-call followed by a 5 second inbounds violation that turned the ball over to CU. ****ING HORSE****!!!

On top of that, we did a couple things to shoot ourselves in the foot. Burks tried to force a pass through the lane with 1 minute left instead of pulling the ball back out and milking clock (we were up like 5 at the time). Turnover and fast break points the other way. Bad freshman mistake.

Finally, Higgins had another tough shooting night. Didn't score in the first half and didn't get it going until about the last 7 minutes (he did play great defense, though... had steals on 3 straight plays at one point). Anyway, Higgins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 in the last minute. Those 2 points would have been huge for us at the time. For some reason, Higgins just doesn't seem right with his shot. (For that matter, it's also like there's a lid on the basket for Dufault lately. Could be that they're so focused on other aspects of their game that their offense is suffering for now.)

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Really solid win, though. Miami (OH) played Kentucky, Cincinnati and Xavier tough on the road this year. They've got very good guards. I'd expect them to get their season turned around and have a winning record in the MAC this year.

Onward to Big 12 play. Schedule makers did us no favors by making us start on the road at Texas. But I guess if you're gonna have to play there, there's no better time than this weekend before classes have started and while all the die-hard fans are traveling to their BCS Championship game.

 

[DBT]

We won 67-65. M-OH missed a 3 at the buzzer (had a good look at it, too). We actually got jobbed by some absolutely horrible officiating down the stretch.

First, they mistakenly called a foul on Relphorde that sent him to the bench with 4 during crunch time. He had been our leading scorer on the night. A couple minutes later (with 3 minutes left in the game), they realized it was supposed to have been on Thorne and Relphorde only had 3 against him.

Second, they called so few fouls on M-OH that we weren't even in the 1-and-1 bonus until there was a minute left in the game.

Third, with less than a minute left they called Nate for a total bull**** foul. He was face guarding their PG to prevent the inbounds to him, had good position, and the M-OH guy pushed him out of bounds. The ref called a foul on Nate what sent the M-OH guy to the FT line for 2 (they'd been in the double-bonus for a while). Ref gave away 2 points at 20 seconds left in the game when the right call was a no-call followed by a 5 second inbounds violation that turned the ball over to CU. ****ING HORSE****!!!

On top of that, we did a couple things to shoot ourselves in the foot. Burks tried to force a pass through the lane with 1 minute left instead of pulling the ball back out and milking clock (we were up like 5 at the time). Turnover and fast break points the other way. Bad freshman mistake.

Finally, Higgins had another tough shooting night. Didn't score in the first half and didn't get it going until about the last 7 minutes (he did play great defense, though... had steals on 3 straight plays at one point). Anyway, Higgins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 in the last minute. Those 2 points would have been huge for us at the time. For some reason, Higgins just doesn't seem right with his shot. (For that matter, it's also like there's a lid on the basket for Dufault lately. Could be that they're so focused on other aspects of their game that their offense is suffering for now.)

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Really solid win, though. Miami (OH) played Kentucky, Cincinnati and Xavier tough on the road this year. They've got very good guards. I'd expect them to get their season turned around and have a winning record in the MAC this year.

Onward to Big 12 play. Schedule makers did us no favors by making us start on the road at Texas. But I guess if you're gonna have to play there, there's no better time than this weekend before classes have started and while all the die-hard fans are traveling to their BCS Championship game.

Well, why the hell was Nate even trying to contest the guy like that. CU almost gagged this one away. I was encouraged after the Rainbow Classic. But since then, we've regressed big time. Conference play is going to be brutal. But we are young and I'm chalking this season up to a season of learning. I made the mistake of briefly getting my hopes up early on, but now I've come back to earth.

 

[Buffnik]

Well, why the hell was Nate even trying to contest the guy like that. CU almost gagged this one away. I was encouraged after the Rainbow Classic. But since then, we've regressed big time. Conference play is going to be brutal. But we are young and I'm chalking this season up to a season of learning. I made the mistake of briefly getting my hopes up early on, but now I've come back to earth.

Coach B had the press on and was double teaming 14 so he wouldn't get the ball. That guy was killing us and when he did get an inbounds he was able to drive coast to coast for 2 points.

But, yeah, we really did gag in the end. In the last couple minutes, besides Cory missing the front end of a 1-and-1, both Burks and Thorne also missed a FT while Miami (OH) was making all of theirs.

This team has got to develop a mean streak & a killer instinct. And you can have that with a team of good students / citizens. Look at Duke.

 

[DBT]

Coach B had the press on and was double teaming 14 so he wouldn't get the ball. That guy was killing us and when he did get an inbounds he was able to drive coast to coast for 2 points.

But, yeah, we really did gag in the end. In the last couple minutes, besides Cory missing the front end of a 1-and-1, both Burks and Thorne also missed a FT while Miami (OH) was making all of theirs.

This team has got to develop a mean streak & a killer instinct. And you can have that with a team of good students / citizens. Look at Duke.

A couple of bigs wouldn't hurt either.

 

[Buffnik]

A couple of bigs wouldn't hurt either.

Absolute must in the upcoming recruiting class. If we could get the New Zealand center (Rob Loe) and a JUCO banger at PF, I'd be a very happy man heading into next season.

 

[SuperiorBuff]

Well, why the hell was Nate even trying to contest the guy like that. CU almost gagged this one away. I was encouraged after the Rainbow Classic. But since then, we've regressed big time. Conference play is going to be brutal. But we are young and I'm chalking this season up to a season of learning. I made the mistake of briefly getting my hopes up early on, but now I've come back to earth.

Ceal said when it happened that it was definitely a block and Nate was in the wrong.

 

[DBT]

Ceal said when it happened that it was definitely a block and Nate was in the wrong.

I don't know much about basketball, but when you force a guy out of bounds and are moving in the process, they almost always call it.

 

[BuffLuke80]

Bad calls happen everywhere but at least they managed to win. This team is no slouch, I think Kentucky beat them by 2 as well in Rupp. Did anybody watch the UNC and College of Charleston game? Talk about terrible officiating, think freethrows were 34-6 in favor of UNC and the game went to overtime. C of C shot alot of threes but I watched it, the zebras were trying like hell to give UNC that game.

 

[dyemeduke]

This team has got to develop a mean streak & a killer instinct. And you can have that with a team of good students / citizens. Look at Duke.

You don't think our current team has some good people? I think Bz has recruited some good kids to be on his team. Has he been able to land a recruit like Duke goes after? - no...but that's not expected either. He just won't be able to do it until he starts winning. Kids that are great citizens and great players are far and few, and usually, a lot of programs are dying to sign them (ala Harrison Barnes this year). I think we have good kids on our team, and unlike football, I actually believe these kids and the coaches are really close to putting it all together.

 

[Buffnik]

You don't think our current team has some good people? I think Bz has recruited some good kids to be on his team. Has he been able to land a recruit like Duke goes after? - no...but that's not expected either. He just won't be able to do it until he starts winning. Kids that are great citizens and great players are far and few, and usually, a lot of programs are dying to sign them (ala Harrison Barnes this year). I think we have good kids on our team, and unlike football, I actually believe these kids and the coaches are really close to putting it all together.

I think you misunderstood me.

I'm saying that we've got really good people on our team. And like Coach said in his pre-game comments before Miami (OH), they need to learn to put on a different personality on the court just like he does as a coach... aggressive, in-your-face and extroverted. Once the team takes that next step in their evolution, they're going to be a very tough out for anyone, especially at Coors.

 

[coereg]

Absolute must in the upcoming recruiting class. If we could get the New Zealand center (Rob Loe) and a JUCO banger at PF, I'd be a very happy man heading into next season.

Rob Loe, even if he signs w/CU, wouldn't join until 2011 because he plans on prepping at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FLA.

CU needs to look for at least ONE JUCO post player for next season. There is NO doubting what is hurting this team most.

 

[Buffnik]

Rob Loe, even if he signs w/CU, wouldn't join until 2011 because he plans on prepping at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FLA.

CU needs to look for at least ONE JUCO post player for next season. There is NO doubting what is hurting this team most.

Does that mean we could sign Loe, stash him for a year, and sign 2 bigs?

Also, are you sure the IMG Academy info is current? I thought I read his plan was to do postgrad, but that it had changed due to the high interest in him from several big conference programs.

 

[coereg]

Does that mean we could sign Loe, stash him for a year, and sign 2 bigs?

Also, are you sure the IMG Academy info is current? I thought I read his plan was to do postgrad, but that it had changed due to the high interest in him from several big conference programs.

Unless something has changed recently, he had mentioned prep school (chose IMG) to pass NCAA clearinghouse rules. I'm not sure what all that entails from his behalf.

Yeah, that'd be great if he signed for the class of 2011. CU could then, like I said, take a stab at a much needed JUCO BIG or two> my fav JUCO's there are ...

1.) Bernard Kamwa (6'8" 250 - College of Sequoia's in Visalia, CA)
2.) Andre Clark (6'9" 225 - John C. Logan CC of Carterville, IL)
3.) Wendell Faines (6'8" 235 - Saddleback CC of Mission Viejo, CA)

... and then, with the ASSUMED progress of Dufault, Ralphorde, & Harris-Tunks, and with the assumption that Loe would be coming, you could fill the remaining Schollie with a guard or wing to NOW backup Hornbuckle and his progress.

But I wouldn't mind spending both schollies on post players, and perhaps both from JUCO ranks.