Badin vs. Fredericktown
Miamisburg graduation 2012
Valley View vs. Greenville
miami notes
RedHawks, Ohio paired in tourney for fifth time in the past six years
Thursday, March 13, 2008
CLEVELAND — This is getting to be quite a tradition, the Miami RedHawks getting together with the Ohio Bobcats in the Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament.
The RedHawks, following their 69-68 win over Buffalo, will face the Bobcats in the tourney for the fifth time in the last six years.
Extras
And they'll also face the player many expected to be named as the MAC's Player of the Year — 6-foot-8 senior center Leon Williams, who ranks third in the MAC in scoring (16.2 points per game) and first in rebounding (9.6).
Miami is 1-3 against Ohio in the two teams' previous four tournament meetings, the one victory coming last March in a 70-51 blowout. This will be their third straight quarterfinal matchup.
"Ever since I've been here, we've played them in the quarterfinals," Miami junior Michael Bramos said. "It's going to be a battle. They got us over at their place (72-63) and we got 'em over at our place (73-49). This will be the rubber match. It's going to be a matter of who wants it more."
No favor being No. 5
Should the RedHawks wind up winning their second straight MAC tournament title, they would become the first No. 5 seed ever to do so.
Miami has been the No. 5 seed three times, and each time the result was a loss in the quarterfinals (in 1983, '87 and '89). Only one fifth seed has ever made the finals: Northern Illinois, in 1981, the tourney's second year.
Still perfect in the first
The RedHawks' victory over Buffalo keeps them undefeated in first-round games.
Miami has played five and won five, also having beaten Eastern Michigan (2000 in Ypsilanti, Mich.), Akron (2001 in Oxford), Buffalo (2002 in Oxford) and Ball State (2004 in Cleveland).
Over the previous 26 years of the MAC tournament, Miami has been eliminated in its first game — which in many seasons came in the quarterfinal round — only eight times, and just five times in the past 23 years.
Miami has been even better in the semifinals: 15 appearances, 11 wins.
The championship game, on the other hand, has been tricky for the RedHawks, who are only 4-7 with the automatic NCAA berth on the line.
Miami won the tourney title in 1984 under Darrell Hedric, 1992 under Joby Wright, and 1997 and 2007 under Charlie Coles.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.
