DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — The Miami RedHawks open their basketball season tonight at Millett Hall against the Xavier Musketeers, and coach Charlie Coles senses that something is missing from his players.

It's something that seemed to depart along with last year's seniors, something that did not make an appearance in two lackluster exhibition games against NCAA Division II opponents.

Coles can only hope that they can find it before 8 p.m. tonight.

It's passion. For the game. For each other.

If the RedHawks can't find that inner spark, it's likely to be a long night, perhaps a long season.

"We've got to improve our rooting for each other," Coles said. "Our locker room has got to get better. You have to have guys saying to each other, hey, I made a good play, now you make one.

"Last year, we achieved that at the end of the year," he said. "Doug Penno was a guy who, whether he made a shot or not, he was going into my personal hall of fame. He was a leader because he was playing with his soul, and right now we don't have that. We've got to find that. We have more talent than we had last year, but we've got to find that."

The Muskies didn't seem to have a problem with passion in their season opener, a 90-59 blowout over Southeast Missouri State in a game they dominated from start to finish.

Xavier senior forward Josh Duncan was the catalyst, nailing 4-of-5 shots from the 3-point arc and finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots despite being on the floor for only 23 minutes.

The Muskies, who have made 17 NCAA tournament appearances in the last 25 years, have dominated the series recently. Since Miami's NCAA Sweet 16 season of 1999, Xavier has won six of the seven matchups with a margin of victory of at least 10 points in all six of its wins.