It didn’t for the RedHawks in their home opener on Saturday against Texas State. The visiting Bobcats of the Sun Belt Conference outrebounded Miami by 18, 44-26, and Miami committed nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes as Texas State left with a 75-65 win before a crowd of 1,636.
“I told the guy before the game that I figured how the game was going to go,” Steele said. “We’re down two bigs, so we had to block out. We couldn’t make it a genetic test, and nine turnovers in the first 10 minutes is an absolute joke. We’ve got to take care of the ball. They had a deer-in-the-headlights look. You can’t dip your toe in the water. You’ve got to jump in.”
Miami is missing 7-foot-1 freshman center Reece Potter and 6-8 senior center Anderson Mirambeaux, which helped the Bobcats build the commanding rebound margin that included a whopping 24-6 advantage on Miami’s backboards. That helped set up Texas State’s 21-8 spread in fast break points.
“We couldn’t set up our defense,” Steele said. “Every time you looked, they’re down there dunking.”
Coupled with their 72-64 non-conference loss at Evansville in their season-opener on Monday, the RedHawks slipped to 0-2 on the young season.
Potter is out with a finger injury. Mirambeaux is sidelined for undisclosed reasons but is practicing with the team and could return in December, Steele said.
“I wish I had a full deck,” Steele said. “I don’t have bench.”
All three incoming transfers — junior guard Bradley Dean, graduate-student and forward Bryce Bultman and graduate-student Darweshi Hunter, who played previously at Central State and Northern Illinois — started for the RedHawks. The 6-5 Hunter, who scored 21 points at Evansville, led Miami with 21 on Saturday.
“I feel like I’m always on,” he said.
The three transfers combined for 29 points.
Sophomore center Jaquel Morris fell two rebounds short of a double-double, gathering eight while scoring 12 points before fouling out after finishing eight seconds short of 30 minutes.
“Jaquel let the ball into the post too easily,” Steele pointed out. “That leads to fouls. They were bigger than us, but we were more athletic.”
The RedHawks will face Coppin State at Millett on Friday in the first game of the Miami Classic. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. before concluding the three-team tournament with a 1 p.m. game against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 19.
Miami never led in the game and trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half that ended with Texas State leading, 40-31, on Morgan’s banked 3-pointer from way past the top of the key at the buzzer.
The left-handed Morgan finished the half with 17 points, going 3-for-3 on 3-pointers. The Bobcats outrebounded the RedHawks, 22-16, before halftime.
The spurt of turnovers helped Texas State to a 10-0 run and an 18-8 lead with 10:57 left. The RedHawks recovered to forge a 20-20 tie with 6:09 left in the half before the Bobcats put together a half-ending 20-11 run capped by Morgan’s buzzer-beater.
Miami never got closer than five points the rest of the way.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Coppin State at Miami, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 980, 1450
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