By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

BALL STATE AT MIAMI

Tipoff: 3 p.m. today, Millett Hall (9,200), Oxford. Records: Miami 6-9 (4-2 Mid-American Conference), Ball State 7-9 (2-4). Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WMOH-AM (1450), WFMG-FM (101.3). Series: Miami leads 47-33. Line: Miami by 7 1/2. BALL STATE Player Yr. Ht. PPG Matt McCollom So. 6-2 10.9 Chris Williams Sr. 6-3 23.1 Robert Owens Jr. 6-7 6.3 Cameron Edhols Jr. 6-8 13.3 Kevin Cates Fr. 6-9 3.4 Coach: Tim Buckley (48-33, 3rd season; 98-85 overall). MIAMI Player Yr. Ht. PPG Juby Johnson Jr. 6-5 13.9 Chet Mason Jr. 6-3 10.5 Danny Horace So. 6-5 10.9 Josh Hausfeld Fr. 6-3 5.9 Bryan Reed Sr. 6-6 2.2 Coach: Charlie Coles (113-87, 7th season; 205-173 overall).

For the second straight game, the Miami defense will have its work cut out for it.

The RedHawks, coming off a game against Akron's Derrick Tarver, the top scorer in the Mid-American Conference, meet the No. 2 scorer, Ball State's Chris Williams, at 3 p.m. today at Millett Hall.

Williams, a transfer from Loyola-Chicago, has been electrifying. He is averaging 23.1 points a game, up from 15.9 last season, and set the program's single-game scoring record when he scored 48 in a 105-104 overtime loss at Akron on Jan. 4.

That effort is tied for the highest scoring game in Division I this season.

Williams is averaging 26.2 points on the road compared to 18.6 at home.

Sophomore guard Matt McCollom, who started 32 of Ball State's 35 games and averaged 4.4 points as a freshman last season, has more than doubled his average to 10.9 points per game. He scored a career-high 29 in a win over Toledo last Saturday and 22 in a win at Eastern Michigan Tuesday.

"I think what you've seen in the last two games is our seniors and other veterans taking charge and leading this team," third-year coach Tim Buckley said. "Their efforts have been very pleasing to watch, and we hope that continues the rest of the year."

Ball State needed a pick-me-up after losing seniors Theron Smith and Rob Robbins to knee problems. Smith, the 6-foot-8 star of last season's team that upset Kansas and UCLA and reached the NationalInvitation Tournament quarterfinals, suffered a torn right knee ligament during a tryout with the NBA Toronto Raptors in May. He seemed ready to return in November, but he developed tendinitis in the knee, which prompted him to sit out this season as a redshirt.

Robbins, a 6-4 guard, suffered a season-ending torn ligament in his left knee in the fourth game of the season, Nov. 30 against Butler.

The losses took their toll. The Cardinals won the first three games after Robbins went down but then lost the next seven, including their first four MAC games, two at home.

Now, they're showing signs of righting themselves just in time for the renewal of what has become an intense rivalry with the RedHawks. Miami (6-9, 4-2) leads the overall series 47-33, but Ball State (7-9, 2-4) has won the last two games, including a 62-50 victory in the MAC Tournament last season.

Today's game promises to be tight. The last three games between the teams at Millett - all Miami wins - have been decided by a combined six points: 86-84 in triple-overtime in 2000, 57-56 in 2001 and 80-77 last season.

Ball State last won in Oxford in 1992, in another one-point game, 44-43.

To add spice to the encounter, the Ball State television broadcast team includes former Miami coach Jerry Peirson.