Tuesday, March 07, 2000
RedHawks play for NCAA bid
Miami tops Marshall, 69-63 in MACsemifinals
BY JEFF CARLTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jason Stewart, who made 10 of 12 3-pointes, makes a face after missing a shot.
(AP photos)
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CLEVELAND — Something about Marshall brings out the best in Jason Stewart.
The Miami forward posted a career-high 30 points in the two teams' last meeting. On Monday, he topped himself with 32 points, sparking the No.9-seeded RedHawks to a 69-63 win over the No.5 Thundering Herd in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Miami, which won its third straight game in the MAC tournament, will play the Ball State-Ohio winner in the MAC championship game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gund Arena. A victory would give Miami its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Stewart was 10-of-12 from 3-point range and made all six of his second-half attempts. ThE 10 threes were a MAC tournament record and a Miami record.
“I don't know what it is (about Marshall),” Stewart said. “I'm actually friends with a couple of guys on their team, and I'm not friends with too many people around the league. I think it's coincidence more than anything.”
Stewart drives.
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“He was phenomenal,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “For our team to win, we have to have the unexpected happen ... and that was unexpected.”
“I've never seen 10-of-12 shooting on 3-pointers before. That was amazing,” said Marshall forward Tamar Slay. “Eventually, we were getting a hand in his face but he was still making a lot of tough shots.”
Coles has taken the RedHawks to the MAC tournament finals each of his four years as coach. Miami won the title in 1997 and lost in the final each of the last two years.
A win Wednesday would send Miami to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years.
Stewart, a transfer from Furman, is the son of Dennis Stewart, an all-Big Ten player at Michigan.
“It was fun,” Stewart said. “I guess you could say I was in a rhythm.”
Brian Edwards ties up Marshall's J.R. VanHoose.
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It wasn't a coincidence when Miami found itself down early. Poor shooting plagued the RedHawks in the opening minutes of the game.
Miami trailed 22-10 and Coles called a timeout. “I just said, "Let's relax and play,'” Coles said.
Miami didn't commit a turnover in the final 10 minutes of the half and closed with a 16-5 run to pull even at 24-all at halftime.
Miami shot 6 of 12 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half.
Miami was 14-of-20 on 3s but just 6-of-26 elsewhere for the game.
Jason Grunkemeyer, who made the 30-foot 3 at the end of regulation in Miami's upset of No.1-seed Bowling Green Sunday, finished with 17 points and shot 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
“We'll let Stew and Grunk shoot all the threes they want when they're shooting like that,” forward Mike Ensminger said.
The RedHawks picked up where they left off after the half, opening up a 16-point lead on a 19-3 run. Counting the eight unanswered points to close out the first half, Miami compiled a 27-3 run.
Marshall came back in the final two minutes, but the RedHawks made 11 of 13 free throws.
“Nobody gave us any chance coming into the tournament,” Stewart said. “But we played everybody tough and lost some close games. So this really isn't that surprising to us.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MIAMI NOTEBOOK
MIAMI (69)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Stewart 37 11-15 0-2 1-1 0 1 32
Lethunya 10 0-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Ensminger 40 3-5 0-0 1-8 1 3 6
Mestas 40 2-7 1-2 0-3 10 3 6
Taylor 23 0-3 7-8 1-2 1 4 7
Grunkemeyer 25 4-7 6-7 0-3 1 1 17
Allendorf 25 0-3 1-2 1-8 1 2 1
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TOTALS 200 20-46 15-21 4-25 14 15 69
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Percentages: FG-.435, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
14-20, .700 (Stewart 10-12, Mestas 1-3, Taylor
0-1, Grunkemeyer 3-4). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked
shots: 4 (Grunkemeyer 2, Ensminger, Allendorf).
Turnovers: 10 (Mestas 3, Ensminger 2, Stewart 2,
Taylor 2, Grunkemeyer). Steals: 4 (Mestas 2,
Stewart 2).
MARSHALL (63)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Slay 35 6-15 0-0 1-4 3 1 13
D Wright 27 3-4 0-0 2-11 0 2 6
Vanhoose 37 5-13 2-3 3-7 0 2 12
Young 36 4-12 6-6 0-4 4 4 15
Jackson 37 5-12 2-2 2-3 4 2 13
M Wright 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Burgess 11 1-4 2-2 2-3 0 4 4
Wuller 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Dobbs 5 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Evans 9 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
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TOTALS 200 24-61 12-13 11-34 11 17 63
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Percentages: FG-.393, FT-.923. 3-Point Goals:
3-13, .231 (Slay 1-5, Young 1-3, Jackson 1-3,
Burgess 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1
(D Wright). Turnovers: 10 (Young 5, Burgess 2,
Dobbs, Jackson, Slay). Steals: 3 (Young 3).
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Miami 24 45 - 69
Marshall 24 39 - 63
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Technical fouls: None. Officials: Ted Valentine,
Jd Collins, Mike Roberts.
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