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Miami looks to finally beat Kent State

Miami University's men's basketball looks to Saturday to rebound from two consecutive losses. The RedHawks will be taking on a Mid-American Conference opponent in the Kent State Flashes at Millett Hall at 3:30 p.m.

With a stinging 83-72 loss to Bowling Green on Tuesday, Miami looks to improve on their record of 9-13 overall and 2-7 in the MAC. The RedHawks are 9-4 at home.

Kent State is 12-10 overall, 4-5 in the MAC and 3-4 on the road. The Flashes also played on Tuesday but will come to Oxford after a 70-64 victory over Eastern Michigan.

"They're going to be physical," head coach John Cooper said. "They're going to rebound the basketball and they're going to be athletic."

Miami will face a tough Kent State offense which averages 79 points a game. The RedHawks average 73 points a game, but draws upon their entire bench.

Expect to see production from freshman guard Michael Weathers, freshman forward Marcus Weathers and freshman center Darius Harper. Redshirt sophomore Jake Wright will be looked to for his consistent three pointers and junior forward Logan McLane has hit his stride in the second half of the season.

Kent State's senior forward Jimmy Hall and sophomore guard Jaylin Walker will test Miami's defense -- they average 18.8 points and 14.7 points a game, respectively.

"It starts with playing good defense. Defense leads to offense and offense lead to defense -- they both work together. If you play good defense and get a rebound you're able to run and get a shot before their defense is set up," assistant coach Trey Meyer said. "But if they're constantly scoring, then they're able to set their defense while we're trying to run our offense. To counter their scoring is to play good defense. We're going to have to share the ball and find the open guy and step up and make shots."

It's been seven years since the RedHawks last beat the Flashes. Last season, the 'Hawks fell 76-68 but played on the road.

The Red and White have not seen success on the road since this season began and the team is looking forward to gaining some momentum from the game at home. The weekend is also alumni weekend and there is expected to be some former Miami basketball players cheering on the current RedHawks.

"Statistically, we've been a way better team at home, so we're looking forward to coming back and playing on our home court," Meyer said. "It's been a place where we've been pretty successful the past few years. I think there will be a lot of energy."

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