Saturday, February 20, 1999
Miami looks to rebound at BG
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Miami RedHawks find themselves in almost the exact situation today they were in Wednesday: They need a win to clinch the Mid-American Conference title outright.
And to get that win they're going to have to beat one of the MAC's top teams on the road.
The only difference today is the RedHawks are about an hour farther south on I-75 — at Bowling Green, instead of Toledo. Today's game (noon) is even televised on Fox Sports Ohio, like the Toledo game.
“It's the same deal,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said.
Miami, of course, failed to win at Toledo, losing 66-63 despite coming back from 14 points down and having a chance at the end to tie.
Coles wasn't overly disappointed with his team's performance.
“Two things go into that,” Coles said. “One, it's a tough stretch in the schedule, and, two, it's tough to play well all the time. Toledo had a lot to do with that, too.”
Bowling Green (15-9, 10-6 MAC) is probably equal to or better than Toledo at this point in the season. The Falcons, in fact, won at Toledo 57-46 two weeks ago to sweep the season series.
The Falcons did lose at Akron the last time out to snap a four-game winning streak, but their leading scorer, Anthony Stacey, was limited to 20 minutes by the flu. He scored only three points, 14 short of his average. He is expected to start today.
Stacey, a 6-foot-4 forward, is the MAC's version of Charles Barkley — a power player who can hit the three. Stacey, in fact, shoots 44 percent from three-point range.
Stacey is a tough matchup for Miami, but Wally Szczerbiak is a tough matchup for BG.
Bowling Green got a big game from Len Matela, its 6-9 freshman center, against Akron. Matela hit career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (12).
Miami (19-5, 14-2) should be back at full strength today. Sophomore forward Mike Ensminger did not play against Toledo because of the flu. The RedHawks got quality minutes from 6-11 sophomore Jay Locklier, who played instead of Ensminger.
“Jay's not as aggressive as Mike,” Coles said. “But he played pretty well. We might use him more.”
Damon Frierson showed against Toledo that his shooting slump is behind him. He is shooting 47.1 percent over his last three games and is up to 87.6 percent from the free throw line, where he has made 44 of his last 46.
Miami beat Bowling Green 83-72 at Millett Hall on Jan. 28.
Coles thinks Miami will have to be better today than it was against Toledo to win. Miami hasn't swept BG since the 1995-96 season.
“We struggled against Toledo,” Coles said. “We've got to be better on defense at the beginning of the game.”
headMIAMI at BOWLING GREEN
• When: Noon, today
• Where: Anderson Arena (5,000), Bowling Green, Ohio
• Records: MU 19-5 (14-2 in MAC), BGSU (15-9, 10-6)
• TV: Fox Sports Ohio
• Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450), WFMG-FM (101.3)
BY THE NUMBERS
• 22-8: Charlie Coles' record in February and March as Miami's head coach
• 3,178: Number of points Wally Szczerbiak and Damon Frierson have combined for in their Miami careers
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