DaytonDailyNews.com

OXFORD — One victory doesn't get the Miami University basketball team off the hook. Two in a row? Well, it's a start.

"There's a lot of pressure on the guys," RedHawks coach Charlie Coles said after Sunday's 64-57 victory over Buffalo, their first in the Mid-American Conference after they had lost their first three league games. "Think of that. When is the last time Miami lost three MAC games in a row?"

It was only the second time in the last five years Miami had suffered three straight conference setbacks.

The pressure of trying to get a season back on course is worse for players than for veteran coaches, Coles said.

And that pressure isn't likely to dissolve by tonight when Miami plays Bowling Green at Anderson Arena, especially since the RedHawks have won only one of their last 10 games at Anderson.

"I've been coaching so long, it doesn't bother me," he said. "But young people, I think it really gets to them.

"Welcome to the real world," he added, noting that players didn't say anything about beating Xavier in the opener "when everyone was cheering."

Miami opened its game against Buffalo with a zone defense, and although the Bulls did not score a point on their first six possessions, it's unlikely that Coles will go back to the zone for more than a few minutes at a time.

"If you're not going to play a good man-to-man, you're probably not going to play a good zone," Coles said.

Miami's defense had struggled in its first three conference games, allowing an average of 71.7 points per game, 10 points above its season average.

"(The Bulls) got a couple shots where you knew it wasn't going to be long before they'd get us," Coles said, explaining why Miami went back to its usual man-to-man defense.

The man-to-man worked just fine. Buffalo's 37.3 percent field-goal shooting was the second-lowest of the season for a Miami opponent. Illinois shot just 35.1 percent when the RedHawks won in Champaign, 61-58 in overtime on Dec. 20.

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