Home away from home
Daniel Abbey
Miami coach Charlie Coles always has a story to tell about something that happened in his life or on the basketball court.
And Saturday was no different for the 63-year-old former CMU coach.
The first story was about senior guard William Hatcher’s first career dunk late in the second half on CMU junior Sefton Barrett.
And the second discussed his dominance against the Chippewas, a team he is 11-1 against since he took over as coach at MU in 1996.
He is 10-0 against CMU coach Jay Smith.
“I can’t ever remember a game that was easy against them,” he said. “We have stolen a few, but even the best team we brought (to Rose Arena) didn’t win. When we had (Wally) Szczerbiak we went to double overtime; it’s a tough environment for us.”
That best team was the 1996-97 squad, Coles’ first-year in Oxford, Ohio. It was led by senior forward Devin Davis, who averaged 16.9 points per game, and senior center Ira Newble, who now plays in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Central split the season series that year with a 86-75 win in Rose Arena. It was one of five Mid-American Conference losses for MU, which was the MAC regular season co-champion, the MAC Tournament champion and played No. 4 seed Clemson in the NCAA Tournament.
Coles, who is in his 10th year at Miami, had a 92-84 record during his six years at CMU, including an NCAA Tournament birth in 1997.
Despite his Central ties, Coles just sees this game as another one on the schedule.
“It’s nothing personal,” he said. “I give the team no motivational speeches about coming to Central.”
Defensive breakdowns, turnovers bog team down in second half
CMU coach Jay Smith was visibly upset following his team’s 75-62 loss against Miami Sunday.
And once again the frustration was a result of bad defense and too many turnovers.
Miami shot 52 percent from the field and forced 20 Chippewas turnovers, turning many of the miscues into easy baskets.
“(It was about) taking care of the ball,” he said. “Our guys made some poor decisions...we can’t trade turnovers.”
Foul trouble plagued CMU early as starting forward freshman Chris Kellermann played just 10 minutes. He fouled out with 14:47 remaining in the second half. Sophomore forward Justin Blevins also fouled out with 7:36 remaining in the second half.
Central led 30-29 at halftime, but Miami opened up with a 21-8 run to take control of the game.
The run was spurred by six layups or dunks and a pair of open three-pointers by junior guard Doug Penno.
“The big thing was getting stops on defense and rebounding the ball,” Coles said. “We had some steals and turned them into fast breaks.”
CMU’s bench also was weakened because of injuries to freshman Aaron Richie and sophomore Reynold Walters. Richie did not place because of a hip injury, while Walters injured his knee during the game.
Sophomore center Drew Walker saw his first action of the season, scoring six points in 21 minutes. Walker had a foot injury that caused him to miss the first four games of the season.
“He played solid,” Smith said. “But he has to do better defensively.”
