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RedHawks will have hands full at No. 5 Pitt
Monday, November 17, 2008
OXFORD — The opponent's names, uniforms and arena will be different for the Miami University RedHawks when they take on their second straight top-five team tonight, Nov. 17, at Pittsburgh.
But in some ways they might as well be playing No. 4 UCLA again.
"They're similar to UCLA," Miami coach Charlie Coles said of the No. 5 Panthers. "I don't know if they're better than UCLA, but they're more physical than UCLA. We're really going to have to compete (today)."
The similarity between Pittsburgh and UCLA is no accident. Pittsburgh's head coach is Jamie Dixon, but from 1999-2003 the Panthers were coached by Ben Howland, who now coaches UCLA.
And the Panthers, like the Bruins, are loaded.
"Levance Fields is a great point guard," Coles said of Pittsburgh's 5-foot-10 senior who helped lead the Panthers to an 86-63 victory over Farleigh Dickinson in their season opener with 15 points and eight assists. "He's good.
"DeJuan Blair, he's a big-time player, and Sam Young," Coles added. "They are their headline players."
Blair, a 6-7 sophomore forward, led the Panthers in their first game with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Young, a 6-6 senior forward, added 15 points.
And Pittsburgh has a 57-1 record against nonconference opponents at Peterson Events Center. Clearly, Miami will have its hands full.
But the RedHawks showed they were no pushovers against UCLA. They led the Bruins 44-42 with 12:24 left and came within inches of tying it when senior point guard Kenny Hayes missed a 3-point shot with 10 seconds left.
Miami also has headline players in Hayes, Michael Bramos and Tyler Dierkers, but Coles said he was particularly encouraged by his supporting players. Nick Winbush, Antonio Ballard, Eric Pollitz, Eric Soderholm, Julian Mavunga and Adam Fletcher all made key contributions last week.
Today's game
What: Miami (1-1) at Pittsburgh (1-0) | When: 7 p.m.
Radio: WONE-AM (980)
TV: ESPN Regional
