By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

By the time Miami's starters gather at Marshall's center court at 7:30 p.m. today for the tipoff of the Mid-American Conference's regular-season finale, they will know where they stand.

Kent State and Northern Illinois, the two teams with which Miami is tied in the overall MAC standings, already will have played their games. If Kent State beats Ohio in a noon game, the Golden Flashes will clinch the championship of the MAC East Division and at least the No. 3 seed in next week's MAC Tournament by virtue of winning both their games this season against the RedHawks.

If NIU wins at home against Western Michigan, the Huskies will clinch the second seed in the MAC Tournament because it would be a combined 1-1 against Kent State and Miami, while the RedHawks are a combined 1-2 against Kent State and NIU.

An NIU loss would give the RedHawks the third seed no matter what they do against the Thundering Herd, because they beat the Huskies in their only meeting of the season.

Of course, Miami also could earn the No. 2 seed with a win and losses by both NIU and Kent State.

What the RedHawks are trying to avoid is a first-round game Monday against Buffalo at Millett Hall. That's the penalty for not being one of the MAC's top three seeds, which earn first-round byes, but it's the position Miami faces after losing to Ohio at home Wednesday.

First-round MAC Tournament games are played at campus sites; other games are played at Cleveland's Gund Arena.

"We have to regroup," coach Charlie Coles said. "We have to get to Cleveland some kind of way.

"It's scary. People say we beat Buffalo by 9,000 points up there (63-35, Feb. 22), but you've got to remember, we only beat them by two here (57-55, Feb. 1). You know how we are."

Inconsistency has plagued the RedHawks (13-13, 11-6 MAC) all season. They seemed to be gathering steam for a late-season run until losing at Bowling Green March 1 and to the Bobcats Wednesday.

"Now our work becomes much tougher," Coles said. "Now we're talking morale. Now we're talking Marshall."

The Thundering Herd (12-14, 8-9) have lost four of their last five games, a slump that started with a 69-49 loss at Miami Feb. 15 and was extended with a 79-71 loss at Akron Wednesday. The only win in that stretch was 80-67 over Kent State on Feb. 25.

Marshall could get some help from 6-foot-9, 270-pound Serge Babo, a native of Cameroon who became eligible in time for the Akron game after sitting out most of the season due to NCAA rules. The Thundering Herd already were going bigger by adding 6-8 sophomore David Anderson and 6-9 freshman Mark Patton to the starting lineup in place of 6-4 senior Monty Wright and 6-10 junior Ardo Armpalu.

That increases the challenge facing 6-5 Miami sophomore Danny Horace, who missed 10 of his 14 shots and scored 11 points against Ohio in his first game since a two-game suspension for an altercation at Buffalo.

"In the early going, I was too excited," Horace said. "I had to try to slow down."

Miami at Marshall

Tipoff: 7:30 p.m. today, Cam Henderson Center (9,043), Huntington, W.Va.

Records: Marshall 12-14 (8-9 Mid-American Conference), Miami 13-13 (11-6).

Radio: WMOH-AM (1450), WFMG-FM (101.3)

TV: None

Series: Miami leads 44-26.

MIAMI

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Juby Johnson	Jr.	6-5	14.8
Danny Horace	So.	6-5	12.0
Chet Mason	Jr.	6-3	9.8
Josh Hausfeld	Fr.	6-3	7.2
Bryan Reed	Sr.	6-6	2.6

Coach: Charlie Coles (120-91, seventh season; 212-175 overall).

MARSHALL

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Ronald Blackshear	Jr.	6-5	20.5
Marvin Black	Jr.	6-7	11.9
David Anderson	So.	6-8	9.0
A.W. Hamilton	So.	6-3	4.9
Mark Patton	Fr.	6-9	3.2

Coach: Greg White (113-83, seventh season; 232-237 overall).