The Miami University men's basketball team (5-12, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) fell Saturday to Ohio University (OU) (15-4, 3-2 MAC) 69-65, as they have now dropped four of their last five games.
"We didn't execute like I wanted us to, we're not thinking like we can on the offensive end," Head Coach Charlie Coles said. "We just got to regroup and continue to work."
The RedHawks led almost the entire game against an OU team with the best overall record in the MAC conference, but allowed a 7-2 run at the end of the game. Coles believes turnovers and a lack of good looks at the basket hurt the team down the stretch. The Bobcats also held a 27-5 edge in free throws attempted.
Freshman guard Brian Sullivan led the RedHawks with 16 points off the bench. Senior forward Julian Mavunga had a season low seven points to go with ten rebounds, but spent a large portion of the game on the bench due to foul trouble. Sophomores Quinten Rollins and Drew McGhee also fouled out, which hurt the RedHawks, especially on the defensive end.
"It's been tough for us at the end of games, but we are working on it every day at practice and we are just going to have to give our best effort," McGhee said.
McGhee was second on the team in scoring with 10 points.
Coles believes his team is showing progress every game despite the rough start to the MAC season.
Miami had a large lead in all but one of the games in the early MAC season. The RedHawks had a 12-point lead in the first half but were unable to keep the Bobcats off the free throw line.
"We played so many games this year where we've played beautiful basketball, and you can't tell me that they drove to the basket more than we did, but that's just the way the calls went," Coles said. "We can't expect freshmen to close it down and you need smarter play from our older guys."
Junior forward Ivo Baltic led the Bobcats with 20 points. They also got some key points from junior guard DJ Cooper, who had 13 points.
The RedHawks begin their stretch against the MAC West Division when they host the University of Toledo Rockets at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Rockets are 9-10 on the season and 1-4 in the MAC. Miami beat Toledo in their lone meeting last season 68-66.
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"Our main focus is on getting better and playing well against the west," McGhee said.
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