Men’s basketball meets last CMU coach to win at Miami

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The CMU men’s basketball team has not won at Miami’s Millett Hall since 1991 when Charlie Coles coached the Chippewas.

Now, the 67-year-old MAC dean of coaches is at Miami, where he has gone 14-2 against his old team since leaving in 1991.

He will get a chance against his old team again at 7 p.m. Thursday when CMU and Miami meet in Oxford, Ohio.

One of his two losses came last season, when CMU beat the RedHawks 57-55 at Rose Arena.

“(Millett) has that atmosphere as though you’re in the theater and it has a dimness to it from a shooting perspective,” Zeigler said. “They’re extremely tough at home like most good teams are.”

Miami has lost several close games to ranked opponents, including now-No.1 Kentucky 72-70 on a last-second shot by freshman John Wall on Dec. 10.

“This is a team that’s played the toughest non-conference schedule in our conference,” Zeigler said.

Junior guard Nick Winbush had a career game against the Wildcats, scoring 26 points and making 8-of-10 from 3-point range.

But Coles said in the MAC’s weekly teleconference that Winbush, who averages 9.4 points per game, has struggled lately, along with the rest of his team.

“Nick should be scoring more. — Nick had two shots at Akron,” he said. “Nick’s a nervous guy. I told him good shooters are not nervous — good shooters are not noisy. It gets quiet before they shoot … I think if he relaxes, I think he can make a better percentage of his shots.”

Coles also said his team has the ability to win the MAC, but has made some poor decisions thus far.

“Our thinking on the court has not nearly been what it has been in the past,” he said. “We were known as a team that didn’t beat itself in years gone by. I don’t think you can give us that tag now.”

The RedHawks are led by senior guard Kenny Hayes, who averages 14.4 points per game to rank sixth in the conference.

On Tuesday, Miami lost to Ball State 65-59 in double-overtime. The RedHawks are 6-13 overall, 3-3 in the MAC.