Wednesday, March 03, 1999
MIAMI NOTEBOOK
Miami's RPI rank likely MAC's best
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TOLEDO — Miami will likely finish the season as the Mid-American Conference team with the highest RPI ever.
The RedHawks entered the week at 21st in the RPI Report, a duplication of the formula the NCAA selection committee uses to pick and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio currently has the highest-ever MAC RPI finish — 34th in 1994.
Other top MAC RPIs: 1995, Ohio at 45; 1996, Eastern Michigan at 35; 1997 and '98, Miami at 69; 1998, Western Michigan at 59.
Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich made a case for the MAC getting a third team.
“If you look at criteria they go by,” he said, “you can make a case that we're a NCAA team.”
That might be a stretch. BGSU is 65th in the RPI.
Not perfect
Frierson missed a free throw in the last three minutes of a game decided by fewer than 10 points for only the second time all year.
Frierson finished 5-of-6. He is 32-of-34 (94.1 percent) on the year in clutch situations.
Esterkamp's night
Dave Esterkamp, the 6-foot-7 forward from LaSalle High School, scored 13 points for Bowling Green.
Esterkamp had a critical charge called on him with 5.8 seconds left in overtime and the Falcons trailing 58-56.
“I don't know if it was a foul,” he said. “I'll leave that to the ref. I was going to the basket and they called a foul.”
Quick shots
• Miami point guard Rob Mestas continues to struggle from three-point range. He was 0-for-3 Tuesday and is 3-for-19 (15.7 percent) over the last four games.
• Jason Grunkemeyer did not play Tuesday. He is still suffering from a sore back.
Up next
Miami plays second-seeded Kent (22-6) at 7:30 tonight in the MAC tournament championship game at Toledo's SeaGate Center.
John Whorton scored 14 points and Kent relied on its stifling defense to beat Ohio 68-57 in Tuesday night's other semifinal.
OHIO (18-10) — Adell 2-7 3-4 7, Stonerook 6-10 5-7 17, Flenorl 6-13 0-0 14, Ford 0-5 0-0 0, Whitehead 4-15 3-5 12, Reed 0-1 1-2 1, Crawford 0-0 0-0 0, Flomo 2-3 2-5 6. Totals 20-54 14-23 57.
KENT (22-6) — Norvell 3-5 3-4 11, Massey 4-11 0-0 8, Whorton 5-6 4-5 14, Mitchell 2-7 3-3 7, Callaway 1-2 0-0 2, Lehrke 1-1 0-0 3, Huffman 2-7 4-4 9, Moore 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 1-3 0-0 2, Meers 2-6 0-0 5, Warren 3-3 1-2 7. Totals 24-51 15-18 68.
Halftime—Kent 35, Ohio 28. 3-point goals—
Ohio 3-20 (Flenorl 2-3, Whitehead 1-7, Flomo 0-1, Stonerook 0-1, Ford 0-4, Adell 0-4), Kent 5-13 (Norvell 2-3, Lehrke 1-1, Huffman 1-2, Meers 1-4, Callaway 0-1, Mitchell 0-2). Rebounds—Ohio 35 (Flenorl, Whitehead 7), Kent 33 (Massey 9). Assists—Ohio 11 (Stonerook, Whitehead 3), Kent 13 (Huffman, Warren 3). A—4,520.
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