Saturday, March 04, 2000
Miami's hopes rest on Taylor's ankle
Still sore, but expected to play
BY JEFF CARLTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEVELAND — May all of Charlie Coles' players turn an ankle and hobble around in a walking cast.
An unusual wish, no doubt, but one that may have crossed the mind of the Miami coach after watching senior guard Anthony Taylor score 23 points in Wednesday's win at Eastern Michigan in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament.
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MIAMI vs. BG
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• When: Noon today
• Where: Gund Arena (11,000), Cleveland
• Records: Miami (13-14, 8-10 MAC); Bowling Green (22-6, 14-4)
• Radio: WMOH-AM (1450), WCKY-AM (1360), WFMG-FM (101.4))
BY THE NUMBERS
• .503: Bowling Green's field goal percentage, one of two teams in the nation making more than half its shots.
• 0: The number of times Bowling Green has beaten Miami three times in one season.
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Taylor's standout performance came just four days after landing funny at Buffalo. He sat out the next two practices and wore a cast on his right foot.
But Taylor was healthy enough for an early-morning practice Saturday at Gund Arena. As the lowest remaining seed in the tournament, Miami drew the earliest practice time: 8:30 a.m. Its opponent, top-seeded Bowling Green, didn't practice until 1 p.m.
Tipoff for the quarterfinal game is noon today. The winner advances to Monday's semifinal against the winner of the Marshall-Central Michigan game.
“I can't tell if these guys are ready or not,” Coles said after Saturday's practice. “It's so hard to take their measure when it's this early in the morning.”
Falcons forward Anthony Stacey should provide the wake-up call the RedHawks need. Bowling Green's all-time leader in points and steals torched Miami for 39 points in the team's two meetings this season. Bowling Green won both games.
The Falcons are second in the country in field goal percentage.
“We need to play our defense from the basket out,” Taylor said. “We have to keep Bowling Green from getting all those high-percentage layups.”
The burden of taking away Bowling Green's inside game falls on frontcourt players Mike Ensminger and Refiloe Lethunya. Both had impressive games in a 66-60 loss to the Falcons on Feb.12; Ensminger had a career-high 16 points and Lethunya had 12 points and 13 boards.
Coles toyed with not starting Lethunya against Eastern Michigan because of his tendency to pick up early fouls. The Red Hawks need him on the floor to help body up on Stacey.
“We don't want to let Stacey do his thing,” Coles said. “We could be in trouble if he starts looking comfortable in there.”
Bowling Green coach Dan Dakich ran his players hard in their afternoon practice, focusing on fast breaks and finishing. It was quite a contrast from Miami's early-morning practice, with its emphasis on set plays and possession.
The RedHawks run one of the most deliberate offenses in the MAC. Point guard Rob Mestas said he needs to set a slow pace so Miami doesn't find itself running up and down the court with the Falcons.
Another big game by Jason Stewart, who is averaging 22 points a game in his last three outings, would give Miami a needed boost in production.
Otherwise the scoring slack must be picked up by Taylor and his injured ankle, which has healed considerably since the Eastern Michigan game.
“It's a little sore,” he said. “I'm taking some painkillers. I'll just have to play through it.”
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