Sunday, December 12, 1999
Miami 71, Notre Dame 55
Strong 2nd half beats Irish
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jason Grunkemeyer
(AP photo)
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OXFORD — Three days later, it was same script, same result.
Saturday, Miami University nearly got blown out early by Notre Dame, recovered to make it respectable by half and then blew the Irish right out on to Route 27 in the second half for a 71-55 victory before a 5,427 at Millett Hall.
That is almost exactly the same way the RedHawks best Xavier on Wednesday.
Miami's talent level is down several notches from last season, but the poise remains. There was no panic when Notre Dame opened a 10-point lead in the first half, just like there wasn't against Xavier.
“We're trying to go at our pace,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “We're not fooling ourselves. We're looking for an edge, trying to hang on.”
Relifoe Lethunya
(Josh Biggs photo)
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Miami found the edge when Notre Dame switched from zone to man-to-man at halftime.
“We were standing around in the first half against the zone,” Jason Grunkemeyer said. “We were taking a lot of outside shots. We tried to work it more inside out in the second half.”
The RedHawks shot 29 percent in the first half. In the second half, they doubled that, hitting 58 percent. They also outrebounded ND 19-12 in the second half.
Grunkemeyer and Anthony Taylor led Miami with 18 points each. Jason Stewart had 13. Refiloe Lethunya had nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Rob Mestas had five points, nine assists, three steals and only three turnovers.
Lethunya and Mike Ensminger helped hold Notre Dame star Troy Murphy to 18 points, six below his average.
Mike Ensminger
(Josh Biggs photo)
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“I can't remember anytime the last two years when we had more of total team effort,” said Grunkemeyer, who was 5-for-9 on 3-point attempts. “Everyone is getting involved.”
Miami has won 16 straight at Millett and improved to 3-3 overall. The RedHakws look to have a chance to go .500 against a killer pre-Mid-American Conference schedule.
“These two wins have really boosted our confidence,” Grunkemeyer said. “At the begin ning of the week, being 1-3 and having lost at Green Bay, our confidence was a little shaky.”
The RedHawks nearly got buried by their first-half shooting effort. Miami missed 11 of its first 12 shots and really had no clue against Notre Dame's 2-3 zone. That allowed Notre Dame to go out to a 22-14 lead.
The Irish were up 10 at 28-18 with 1:38 in the half. But Miami hit a pair of 3's in the last 63 seconds of the half to go into the break down 28-24.
“We played well in the first half,” Notre Dame coach Matt Doherty said. “We got the 10-point lead. Then they hit a couple of big shots to get back in it.”
After ND scored the first point of the second half, Miami went on a 8-0 run to take its first lead since it was a 3-2 game.
It was still a two-point game at 43-41 with 10:59 to go.
But Miami got stops and converted on offense three straight trips to push the lead to 50-41 with 9:10 to go.
Doherty knew his team was in trouble.
“Miami is tough to come back on,” he said. “They control the ball and they're smart. Mestas does a great job organizing them.”
Not to mention Miami became more confident as the lead grew. The sequence that seemed to seal the game came about 15 minutes into the second half. Lethunya blocked Jere Macura's shot, Mestas retrieved the ball and started the break.
He hit Lethunya with a pass underneath. Lethunya threw it out to Stewart at the 3-point line on the right side. Stewart set his feet and drilled the 3-pointer. It was 58-45 with 6:05 to go, but Notre Dame was done.
Miami Notebook
NOTRE DAME (55)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Murphy 36 6-13 6-8 2-10 1 1 18
Graves 31 7-11 0-0 2-4 1 0 17
Swanagan 24 1-5 1-1 1-4 0 3 3
Carroll 31 3-10 0-0 0-4 3 2 7
Dillon 27 0-2 2-2 0-0 4 3 2
Kartelo 8 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 0 0
Macura 17 1-2 1-2 1-5 1 2 4
Monserez 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Ingelsby 16 2-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 4
Owens 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Palmer 1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 20-50 10-13 6-30 12 12 55
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Percentages: FG-.400, FT-.769. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (Murphy 0-1, Graves 3-5, Carroll 1-5,
Dillon 0-2, Macura 1-1, Monserez 0-1, Ingelsby
0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 2
(Swanagan, Carroll). Turnovers: 17 (Carroll 4,
Graves 3, Swanagan 3, Ingelsby 2, Murphy 2,
Dillon, Macura, Palmer). Steals: 9 (Graves 3,
Dillon 2, Carroll, Kartelo, Murphy, Swanagan).
MIAMI OHIO (71)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Grunkemeyer 31 6-11 1-1 1-4 5 2 18
Lethunya 34 3-9 3-5 4-12 1 1 9
Allendorf 12 1-3 0-0 3-5 0 3 2
Mestas 39 2-7 0-0 0-4 9 2 5
Taylor 37 7-13 2-2 1-4 3 3 18
Jameson 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Stewart 14 4-10 3-4 1-2 0 1 13
Williams 1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2
Helmers 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Reed 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Edwards 2 0-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Ensminger 27 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 3 4
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TOTALS 200 26-60 9-12 10-32 23 15 71
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Percentages: FG-.433, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
10-24, .417 (Grunkemeyer 5-9, Mestas 1-5, Taylor
2-4, Stewart 2-6). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked
shots: 5 (Lethunya 3, Allendorf, Edwards).
Turnovers: 12 (Grunkemeyer 3, Mestas 3, Taylor 3,
Ensminger, Lethunya, Stewart). Steals: 13
(Grunkemeyer 3, Lethunya 3, Mestas 3, Stewart 2,
Ensminger, Taylor).
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Notre Dame 28 27 - 55
Miami Ohio 24 47 - 71
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Technical fouls: None. A: 5,427. Officials: Bob
Adams, James Frank, Ken Clark.
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