Monday, February 07, 2000
No. Illinois 69, Miami 59
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Charlie Coles hopes his Miami RedHawks “aren't through.”
Miami lost its third straight game Sunday, blowing a five-point halftime lead and falling 69-59 at Northern Illinois. It's the first time the RedHawks (10-10, 6-6) have lost three in a row since January 1998, when Wally Szcerbiak was out with a wrist injury.
And it could get tougher. The Redhawks' next five games are all against teams with an equal or better record in the Mid-American Conference, beginning Wednesday, when they return home to play MAC East Division leader Akron (16-6, 10-3).
Miami's Anthony Taylor scored 18 points Sunday, including eight in a 15-6 run that brought the RedHawks within two at 57-55 with 4:20 to play. But Northern Illinois closed the door with a 7-0 run — all seven from forward Leon Rodgers.
Northern Illinois center T.J. Lux muscled his way for 20 points and five rebounds, with eight of his points coming in the 22-6 second-half run that ignited the Huskies (12-10, 6-7).
“We got worn down by a team that can be pretty darn good,” said Coles, the Miami coach. “Our post defense was not as good in the second half as it was the first. We knew the game would be won or lost in the paint.”
Miami, playing without the injured Jason Grunkemeyer (back) for the second straight game, took a 34-29 halftime lead by shooting 57 percent from the field. But the Hawks missed all five of their first half free throws and finished just 8-of-16 from the line.
Point guard Rob Mestas had 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists but also committed five turnovers.
MIAMI (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Lethunya 23 2-5 2-2 1-3 0 3 6
Ensminger 25 2-4 1-2 2-6 1 2 5
Stewart 29 4-9 0-0 0-4 0 3 9
Mestas 39 4-10 0-3 0-5 7 3 11
Taylor 30 7-11 3-3 0-2 2 4 18
Jameson 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Helmers 12 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 1 2
Reed 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Edwards 7 1-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 2
Allendorf 26 2-5 2-6 1-2 1 2 6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-47 8-16 5-25 12 20 59
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.500. 3-Point Goals:
5-13, .385 (Stewart 1-3, Mestas 3-8, Taylor 1-1,
Helmers 0-1). Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 1
(Lethunya). Turnovers: 12 (Mestas 5, Taylor 4,
Allendorf, Edwards, Lethunya). Steals: 2 (Mestas,
Taylor).
NORTHERN ILL (69)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Rodgers 32 7-11 3-4 3-10 0 2 18
R Jones 26 1-4 3-4 1-3 6 3 5
Lux 38 6-14 8-12 1-5 2 3 20
Eaddy 29 1-3 1-2 0-3 2 3 4
Brown 30 1-6 4-4 1-5 2 0 6
Thompson 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Jankus 11 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 2 5
S Jones 20 2-7 1-2 2-3 1 0 5
Nelson 11 3-3 0-0 1-2 0 2 6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-51 20-28 9-32 14 15 69
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.451, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
3-12, .250 (Rodgers 1-2, R Jones 0-2, Eaddy 1-1,
Brown 0-5, Thompson 0-1, Jankus 1-1). Team
rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3 (Rodgers 2, Lux).
Turnovers: 8 (Brown 2, S Jones 2, Jankus, Lux,
Nelson, Rodgers). Steals: 7 (Eaddy 3, R Jones 2,
Jankus, S Jones).
__________________________________
Miami 34 25 - 59
Northern Ill 29 40 - 69
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 1,839. Officials: Tim
Fogarty, Jd Collins, Sam Banks.
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