CLEVELAND — Miami was able to advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals by shutting down the MAC player of the year, David Webber, in a 65-56 victory over Central Michigan Thursday.

        To get the finals, Miami must deal with Ohio's Brandon Hunter, runner-up to Webber in the voting.

        Miami, the No.8 seed, faces Ohio U., the No.5 seed, at 7p.m. today in a semifinal game.

        “That's good for both teams,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “We're rivals.”

        Hunter, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound sophomore, is a difficult matchup for Miami. He averaged 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in the regular season this year. He did better than that against Miami: 25 points and 19 rebounds in Ohio's 62-60 overtime victory at Athens Jan.13; 21 points and nine rebounds in Ohio's 76-72 loss in Oxford Feb.28.

        Hunter had 22 points and 10 rebounds in OU's 64-63 win over Toledo Thursday.

        FRESH DEFENSE: When Coles recruited Juby Johnson and Eugene Seals, he wasn't looking for defenders.

        “I didn't know if they could play defense or not,” Coles said of his prize freshman.

        He knows now. Johnson and Seals held Webber to eight points on 3-for-20 shooting (0-for-8 from 3 range) Thursday.

        Webber had only one field goal in the last 30 minutes of the game.

        “We knew we couldn't keep the ball away from him,” Seals said. “So we tried to stay in front of him and make him shoot from the outside. We didn't give him any open looks.”

        Coles keeps it simple for the freshmen.

        “We just let them be athletic,” he said. “We ain't worried about where their feet are and all that. We say, "Don't let him score.'”

        NO LOSER: Thursday's victory assured Miami of avoiding its first losing season since 1989-90. The RedHawks are 16-15.

Sports Stories

Miami upsets MAC favorite Hunter's numbers mean trouble for RedHawks Other Mid-American games Mid-American Conference pairings Ohio State enters Big Ten tourney on a roll Big Ten pairings Kentucky hopes to avoid upset Southeastern Conference pairings NKU men advance in tourney Boys swimming all-star team Girls swimming all-star team Boys basketball coverage Girls basketball coverage McNicholas focused on state berth Purcell Marian on to regionals Roger Bacon wins district title Boone Co. 'survives' against NCC Campbell County falls in 10th Region Holmes wears down Calvary Christian N.Ky. boys regional preview Ohio boys basketball scores Ohio girls basketball scores Kentucky boys basketball scores Kentucky girls basketball scores Cincinnati boys basketball schedule Cincinnati girls basketball schedule N.Ky. boys basketball schedule N.Ky. girls basketball schedule Ohio girls regional finals

Xavier's loss may cost NCAA berth
DAUGHERTY: Wait will be torture
Muskies fail to get it to West
Other Atlantic-10 games
Atlantic-10 pairings
Is Philly best place for A-10 tourney?
Satterfield saves UC from disaster
SULLIVAN: Bearcats don't let guard down
Best, worst of times for Logan
Other Conference-USA games
Conference-USA pairings
Kitna not assured starting job
Stubblefield mulls hometown offer
RADEL: Bengals fumble; we pay again
Graves grows into leadership role
Ballpark passes wind test
Injury won't keep Young out long
Larkin, Griffey return
Game report: Reds 8, Phillies 4