By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

The pattern has become too familiar for Miami RedHawks coach Charlie Coles.

Just when he thinks the RedHawks have gotten their act together and are ready to make a run at a championship, they take a step or two backward.

Coles saw it happen again Saturday, when Ball State snapped the RedHawks' three-game win streak, 56-50 at Millett Hall. Ball State built a significant 43-31 rebounding margin against Miami.

Miami is starting to look like a team that can't stand success. Two years ago, the RedHawks were 8-4 in the Mid-American Conference before losing five of their last six regular-season games, including home losses to Bowling Green by 15 points and eventual East Division-champion Kent State by three.

Last season, as Coles pointed out Saturday, Miami built an 11-4 MAC record before ending the regular season with a three-game losing streak, including an eight-point loss to Ohio at Millett. The RedHawks went on to lose to the Bobcats in overtime in the first round of the MAC Tournament.

"One of the things we haven't been able to do the last three seasons, with our current group of veterans, is to get at a certain point and keep going," Coles said.

The RedHawks (7-6, 3-2) fell a full game behind Kent State (10-3, 4-1) in the East Division with their loss to Ball State, but they could move into a tie with the Golden Flashes for first place with a win at Central Michigan (3-12, 0-5) and a loss by Kent State to West Division-leading Western Michigan (12-1, 5-0) tonight.

"I wish they'd let me get up the mountain and then knock me off," Coles said.

The Chippewas won the MAC regular-season and tournament championships last season, but they obviously are having a difficult time adjusting to the loss of MAC Player of the Year Chris Kaman, the 7-foot center who left CMU after his junior season and became the No. 6 overall pick in the NBA draft. Kaman was second in the MAC in scoring and rebounding and led the conference in field goal percentage and blocked shots last season.

This season, CMU is last in the conference in rebounding and field goal percentage defense and second-last in blocked shots, just ahead of Miami. The Chippewas also are giving up an average of 80.1 points a game, the most in the MAC.

"We have to keep the opponent in the 60-point range if we are going to win games," CMU coach Jay Smith, the reigning conference Coach of the Year, said after his team's 86-61 loss at Bowling Green on Sunday.

CMU could meet that goal against the RedHawks, whose poor shooting and patient offense is producing an average of 61.1 points a game.

Miami is last in the MAC in shooting and scoring.

Miami at Central Michigan

Tipoff: 7 p.m. today, Rose Arena (5,200), Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Records: Miami 7-6 (3-2 Mid-American Conference), Ball State 3-12 (0-5).

TV: None.

Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450).

Series: Miami leads 39-16.

Line: Miami by 5.

MIAMI

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Chet Mason	Jr.	6-4	11.3
Josh Hausfeld	So.	6-3	8.7
Juby Johnson	Sr.	6-5	15.4
Gene Seals	Sr.	6-6	5.7
Tim Schenke	Jr.	6-6	4.1
Monty St. Clair	Fr.	6-9	0.7

Coach: Charlie Coles (127-98, eighth season; 219-183 overall).

CENTRAL MICHIGAN

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Gerrit Brigitha	Sr.	6-8	17.7
Kevin Nelson	So.	6-3	10.8
T.J. Meerman	Sr.	6-3	5.8
Marcus Moore	So.	6-5	5.2
David Hoskins	Fr.	6-5	7.4

Coach: Jay Smith (78-59, seventh season; 101-112 overall).