DaytonDailyNews.com

Miami University's basketball players won't be satisfied with a strong showing when they begin play in the Anaheim Classic tonight, head coach Charlie Coles said.

They're looking for hardware. Specifically, a first-place trophy.

Miami faces South Alabama tonight and then will take on Southern Cal or San Diego late Friday at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center. The tournament wraps up Sunday.

"I hope we can win some games," Coles said. "The reason we said we'd go out there, the tournament format could be like it would be at the Mid-American Conference tournament, a warm-up for what we'll have later in the year.

"The guys know they can win something," he added. "There is more of a sense of urgency. If you lose one, you're not going to finish first."

It's been nine days since the RedHawks opened with a 59-57 victory over Xavier. It's been about 81/2 days since they stopped congratulating themselves.

"We've kinda moved on," Coles said. "Our guys felt fortunate that we could win that game. The guys were happy. I told the guys, 'Hey, great, but don't let this one victory slow us down.' "

Miami junior center Tyler Dierkers made some key plays against Xavier despite not taking a single shot, finishing with six rebounds and a couple blocked shots.

Although Coles won't always use a center, he figures Dierkers and some of his other post players like Adam Fletcher "and maybe Dwight McCombs" could come in handy.

"South Alabama has got two guys inside who are 6-8, and both are very, very strong," Coles said, referring to junior forward DeAndre Coleman and junior center Ronald Douglas. "I imagine every team there has got to have pretty good size."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.