Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Miami gets boost from bench
Drake, Reed come through after Davis' injury
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Miami University coach Charlie Coles avoids taking credit whenever possible. So it was not surprising he didn't claim all the bench points the RedHawks scored Monday against Western Michigan were part of his plan.
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AKRON at MIAMI
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• When: 7 p.m. today.
• Where: Millett Hall (9,200).
• Records: Miami 8-10 (4-3 Mid-American Conference), Akron 6-9 (3-3).
• Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450).
AKRON
Player-Ht-Yr-Avg
Emanuel Smith-6-2-So.-10.2
Rashon Brown-6-1-Jr.-15.0
Bruce Weinkein-6-11-Sr.-16.8
Nate Schindewolf-6-5-Sr.-15.5
Byron Thompson-6-6-Fr.-3.1
Coach: Dan Hipsher (69-80, sixth season; 195-125 overall)
MIAMI
Player-Ht-Yr-Avg
Matt Jameson-6-1-So.-2.7
J. Grunkemeyer-6-5-Sr.-11.8
Alex Shorts-6-8-Jr.-14.4
Mike Ensminger-6-6-Sr.-5.4
Juby Johnson-6-5-Fr.-6.2
Coach: Charlie Coles (85-54, fifth season; 177-139 overall)
BY THE NUMBERS
• 13: Number of points Miami forward Bryan Reed has scored his last two games.
• 14: Number of points Reed has scored this season.
• 1-7: Akron's record at Millett Hall.
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“We would have never had 43 points off the bench had (point guard) Doug (Davis) not gotten hurt,” Coles said. “I would not have been that smart. Sometimes the best substitutions are the ones a coach has to make.”
Whatever the reason, the RedHawks suddenly are going deeper. That should come in handy tonight when they take on Akron in a Mid-American Conference game at Millett Hall.
The game is the RedHawks' third in five days; they play again Saturday, vs. Ball State at Millett. Davis, who has a dislocated right big toe, will miss both games.
So the RedHawks (8-10, 4-3 MAC) need all the fresh bodies they can get.
The two players who have emerged are sophomores Larry Drake and Bryan Reed. Each reached a career-high point total — 15 for Drake, eight for Reed — in the 77-50 win over Western Michigan.
Reed had scored just one point in the RedHawks' first 16 games but has scored 13 in the last two. Drake was the star of the Temple game Nov.30, scoring 11 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting. But he had scored a total of 13 points in 11 games before the one with WMU.
Reed, a 6-foot-6 forward, showed flashes of good play last season.
“He's played two good games in a row,” Coles said. “I'm happy for Bryan. But that is why we recruited him.”
Drake, a 6-5 guard, saw Davis' injury as an opportunity.
“Whenever Coach gives me the chance, I just want to step up and do what I do best, play hard,” Drake said Monday. “I wasn't expecting anything big, but with Doug out, somebody had to step up. Tonight was my night. The next night it might be someone else.”
Akron (6-9, 3-3) could exploit Miami's problem at point guard. The Zips' Rashon Brown, a 6-1 transfer from Western Kentucky, became eligible at semester break. He's averaging 15.0 points and a team-high 4.1 assists a game and is shooting 82.0 percent from the line and 45.9 percent from the floor.
Nate Schindewolf leads the Zips in scoring at 15.5 points a game. Schindewolf spent his freshman year at Miami before transfering to Akron.
Akron lost one of its top players, Andy Hipsher (coach Dan Hipsher's son), to a back injury, nine games ago.
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