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RedHawks post second straight solid win
Thursday, January 31, 2008
DEKALB, Ill. — The Miami RedHawks, it appears, are back in business.
There was a lot to like about Miami's 66-51 victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies on Wednesday night at the Convocation Center.
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Kenny Hayes scored a career-high 25 points, Tim Pollitz played a vintage Tim Pollitz game, Michael Bramos was back on the court and Miami's defense was back to its dominating self.
"We've played two of our better games this year Saturday (Miami's 65-52 win over Eastern Michigan) and tonight," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "And tonight's game was much better than Saturday's.
"You look at the Northern Illinois team and they've got some real good athletes," he said. "I think we caught 'em a little bit off guard."
Miami, which won for the third time in the last four games to improve to 9-10 overall, 3-4 in the Mid-American Confernece, led by as many as 21 points. The RedHawks' final 15-point margin was their largest since Dec. 4, when they scored a 16-point triumph over Indiana State.
The Huskies (5-14, 2-5 MAC) struggled desperately on offense, shooting 24 percent from the field in the first half and making only 1-of-13 shots from the 3-point arc for the night.
"They got to the basket a couple of times," Hayes said, "but we really contested their 3s a lot.
"In the games we were losing at the beginning of the MAC season, we weren't playing good defense," he continued. "Teams were fast breaking on us, and we weren't getting back. We're starting to get the hang of it now."
Hayes, meanwhile, certainly is getting the hang of scoring points. He has scored 16 or more points in four of his last five games.
"Tonight, I wanted to stay aggressive and patient at the same time," said Hayes, who hit 10-of-16 field goal attempts, including three 3-point baskets in six tries. "I didn't want to force anything, but I wanted to find the seams (in the NIU defense)."
Pollitz added 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Bramos, who has sprained his left ankle twice this season, saw his first action since Jan. 17 and played 31 minutes.
Miami led 22-16 at halftime and then came alive on offense, scoring 44 points in the second half while shooting 57.1 percent from the field.
