RedHawks coach sticking with what works

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Miami's Julian Mavunga tries to get around the Eastern Michigan defense during the first half of a game earlier this season at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Staff photo by Pat Auckerman Miami's Julian Mavunga tries to get around the Eastern Michigan defense during the first half of a game earlier this season at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

After 2 straight road wins, Coles will keep Mavunga in post, Winbush at forward.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 11:34 AM Wednesday, February 10, 2010

OXFORD — Miami University basketball coach Charlie Coles likes his new starting lineup and for the time being doesn’t feel inclined to change it.

The RedHawks won back-to-back road games with sophomore Julian Mavunga in the post and junior Nick Winbush at forward, and Coles said both will start again tonight, Feb. 10, when Miami faces the Toledo Rockets at Millett Hall.

“We’ll keep that lineup in place,” Coles said. “When Nick Winbush is shooting the ball pretty good, we become a little more of a versatile team.”

Winbush scored 17 points in Miami’s 74-69 victory at Northern Illinois last Saturday. It was his second straight start after having come off the bench in his previous 10 games.

Coles changed his starting lineup when senior center Adam Fletcher was forced to miss Miami’s game at Western Michigan last Thursday with an injured quadriceps. Fletcher returned to action Saturday and will be available for action again tonight off the bench.

“I’m expecting him to play some,” Coles said. “He won’t be 100 percent, but he was valuable Saturday because he got rebounds and really helped us out on the defensive end.”

Miami is riding a season-long four-game winning streak and for the second time in five days will face an opponent on a lengthy losing streak.

The RedHawks handed Northern Illinois its sixth straight loss last weekend, but the Huskies are having a good season compared to that of the Rockets, who have lost 14 in a row and have yet to win in the Mid-American Conference.

“They’re definitely playing better than they were three or four weeks ago,” Coles said of the Rockets, whose last two losses were by six points in overtime to Ohio and by seven points to Buffalo. “But the focus is on us, on trying to get our team better.”

The RedHawks do seem focused now. Their 7-3 MAC record puts them in a tie with Akron for second place in the league’s overall standings, behind only 8-2 Kent State.

That makes Miami a serious contender to earn one of the top four seeds and a first-round bye for next month’s MAC tournament.

Also battling it out for one of those four spots are Central Michigan (the MAC West Division leader at 6-3), Ball State (6-4), Buffalo (5-5) and Western Michigan (5-5).

“We don’t talk to the players about it, but we want to play well enough to get one of the (top four) seeds,” Coles said. “That’s in back of our minds.”

In addition to the RedHawks’ four-game winning streak, they also have won six straight at home and three in a row against Toledo.

Contact this reporter

at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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