DaytonDailyNews.com

CLEVELAND — Miami University senior Tim Pollitz needs 13 points to tie Wayne Embry for 10th place on the school's career scoring list.

He didn't make much progress Thursday, March 13, in the quarterfinals. Pollitz was limited to four points, his season low, on 2-of-11 shooting from the field in Miami's 74-61 triumph over the Ohio Bobcats.

Embry, considered one of the top two or three players in school history, scored 1,401 points while playing from 1955-58. As a senior, he averaged 24.9 points and 18.0 rebounds for a team coached by Dick Shrider that beat Pittsburgh 82-77 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to advance to the final 16.

Other starters on that team, considered one of the most talented in school history, were forwards Bill Brown and Jim Thomas and guards John Powell and Jim Hamilton.

Embry, who turns 71 on March 26, went on to play in the NBA with the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks and was named to five consecutive NBA All-Star teams. He also served as a member of the Miami Board of Trustees.

His Miami jersey No. 23 was retired in 1995.

Against the Flashes

Miami has faced Kent State, its next opponent, seven times in the MAC tournament and has a 4-3 record.

The Golden Flashes, however, have won the last three, 49-43 in the 1999 final, 67-61 in the 2001 final and 66-56 in the 2004 quarterfinals.

The RedHawks survived the 1999 final and received an NCAA tournament at-large berth with a 22-7 record.

Miami, coached by Charlie Coles and led on the floor by seniors Wally Szczerbiak and Damon Frierson, went on to reach the Sweet 16 with a pair of victories in New Orleans, 59-58 over Washington and 66-58 over Utah. The RedHawks were defeated by Kentucky 58-43 in St. Louis to finish 24-8.

Despite Miami's strong tournament showing, no MAC team has received an NCAA at-large bid since.

Moosmann breaks out

Miami's Alex Moosmann broke a five-game scoreless streak when he pumped in his back-to-back 3-point baskets in the first half of Thursday's contest.

Moosmann had not scored since Feb. 19 at Akron when he hit a 3-pointer. Over the next five games he went 0-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-5 from the 3-point arc.

On Thursday, the 6-foot sophomore guard from Washington, Mo., hit 3-of-4 shots from the arc and finished with nine points.

Hayes comes through

Miami junior guard Kenny Hayes, who had emerged from a brief shooting slump in the 69-68 first-round win over Buffalo when he scored 11 points, going 2-for-2 from the 3-point arc, also came up big in the closing minutes of Thursday's semifinal win.

Hayes sank 4-of-4 free throws in the final 55 seconds against Ohio.

He had totaled only five points in Miami's last two regular-season games.