DaytonDailyNews.com

ATHENS — Tim Pollitz is getting frustrated, and when he's frustrated, the Miami University basketball team is frustrated.

For the second straight game, Pollitz hardly touched the ball, and for the second straight game, the RedHawks lost a Mid-American Conference game on the road, falling 72-63 to the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday afternoon.

A Convocation Center crowd of 9,026 watched Ohio's Jerome Tillman and Leon Williams combine for 37 points, and Miami coach Charlie Coles watched his team lose its fourth in a row.

"We've had two league games now," said Coles, whose RedHawks stand 6-8 overall and 0-2 in the MAC. "Boy, based on what they (Akron and Ohio) did, those are two teams that are better than us right now."

Tillman scored 19 points for the Bobcats (10-5, 1-1 MAC), and Williams added 18. That isn't much of a surprise.

Over the last two games Pollitzhas scored a total of 19 points while taking only 11 shots. That is a surprise.

"They sent a double team every time I touched the ball," said Miami's 6-foot-4 senior forward, who came into the game leading the team with 16.1 points per game. "I've just got to do a better job of moving without the ball.

"It's frustrating," Pollitz said. "You get up and get ready for the game, and you only touch the ball in single digits in the first half. Against Akron, it was the exact same thing. I'd touch the ball, and it was a double team immediately."

Coles said other Miami players need to play better.

"We're just running into trouble with ways to get Tim the ball," Coles said. "As long as we're not very good at the perimeter position, we're not going to be able to get him the ball."

"We had a good game plan," Ohio coach Tim O'Shea said. "We always feel the key to Miami is to contain Pollitz, not only his scoring but also his passing. Everything goes through him. He's sort of their point forward."

Pollitz did finish with a team-high 13 points, but 11 came after Ohio had taken a 16-point lead midway through the second half.

Miami trailed 39-34 at halftime despite shooting 66.7 percent from the field and, amazingly, missing only one shot from 2-point range (15-for-16).

The 2-point magic didn't last. The RedHawks missed their first six shots taken from within 10 feet of the rim in the second half and failed to score on their first eight possessions.

Still, back-to-back 3-point baskets by Michael Bramos and Pollitz made it 68-63 with 31 seconds to go.

The RedHawks then forced a jump ball, but the possession arrow was in Ohio's favor. On the ensuing inbounds play, the Bobcats nearly didn't get the ball in, but at the last second a lob pass to Williams resulted in a breakaway slam that quashed Miami's comeback.

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