Enquirer news services

YPSILANTI, Mich. - Juby Johnson had 26 points to lead Miami to its fourth straight victory, 73-58 over Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.

It was the 500th Mid-American Conference victory for Miami, the first program in the league to reach that plateau.

Johnson had 19 of his points in a first half, during which Miami could do nothing wrong and Eastern Michigan could do nothing right. The 26 points tied Johnson's career high.

"Juby had a phenomenal game today," Miami coach Charlie Coles said. "He's been a true leader on our team and he showed that tonight."

The RedHawks (8-9, 6-2 MAC) jumped out to a 45-17 halftime lead, hitting 20 of 28 shots from the field, including four of seven 3-pointers.

"Our players are really developing self-motivation right now, which has been a key factor," Coles said.

The Eagles (8-8, 2-5) hit only five of 25 attempts from the field and were outrebounded 19-11.

Eastern Michigan came out with a 17-3 run in the second half to cut Miami's lead to 48-34 with 14:13 left. The Eagles trailed by nine points with 1:42 remaining, but could get no closer.

"Any time you play that well in the first half you always run the risk of having things slow down in the second half," Coles said.

Miami hosts Buffalo (3-13, 0-7 in the MAC) at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Miami	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Johnson	37	10	16	2	3	3	3	1	2	26
Horace	21	5	10	3	5	4	0	3	2	13
Reed	19	2	4	0	0	1	2	4	1	5
Hausfeld	28	1	4	2	2	3	6	2	0	5
Mason	40	3	8	2	3	8	2	2	5	8
Williams	16	4	4	0	0	4	0	2	1	8
Seals	22	1	3	1	1	4	1	4	0	3
Schenke	17	2	2	0	0	2	2	3	1	5
Totals	200	28	51	10	14	30	16	21	12	73

Team rebounds - 1.

E. Michigan	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Austin	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	3
Pettyjohn	37	1	9	8	9	8	0	5	3	10
Prillman	18	4	9	4	7	3	0	3	2	12
Hart	36	3	11	0	0	6	5	4	2	6
Ross	40	5	13	0	0	6	4	1	3	11
Hicks	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cottrill	33	3	7	1	1	1	2	1	3	7
Jackson	20	2	3	5	9	7	1	2	0	9
Bowler	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
Totals	200	19	55	18	26	35	12	19	13	58

Team rebounds - 3.

Miami	45	28	-73
E. Michigan	17	41	-58

3-pointers - MU 7-17 (Johnson 4-8, Horace 0-2, Reed 1-1, Hausfeld 1-3, Mason 0-1, Seals 0-1, Schenke 1-1), EM 2-13 (Austin 1-1, Pettyjohn 0-2, Hart 0-2, Ross 1-6, Cottrill 0-2). Technicals - None. Officials - Wymer, Fogarty, Garton. Attendance - 2,002.

Miami 73, E. Michigan 58