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RedHawks will have their hands full at No. 4 UK

Talented Wildcats are led by preseason All-American Patrick Patterson.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer 4:46 AM Monday, November 16, 2009

OXFORD — The No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats aren’t the highest-ranked team Charlie Coles and his Miami RedHawks have ever faced, but he said they might be the best.

“Kentucky ... I don’t know if we’ve played anybody that talented before,” Coles said. “It’s by far the best freshman group we’ve ever gone up against.”

For the second time in less than two years the RedHawks will throw themselves at a top-four opponent when they visit Rupp Arena tonight, Nov. 16.

It was Dec. 22, 2007, that Miami lost at third-ranked Kansas 78-54.

The RedHawks know they face an extreme challenge, especially after losing their opener to Towson 82-71.

Coles was asked if he’d rather be going to Kentucky with an opening win under his belt.

“I’d much rather be going to Lexington to play a baseball game or something, not basketball with the way they’re playing,” he joked.

UK, led by preseason All-American Patrick Patterson, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, is coming off a 75-59 victory over Morehead State.

The Wildcats have a blockbuster freshman class that features 6-1 guard Eric Bledsoe, who scored 24 points in that game, and 6-4 guard John Wall, who did not play in the opener due to an NCAA suspension but is available tonight.

Coles said he didn’t like what he saw from his team in the second half against Towson, where the RedHawks were outscored 45-29 over the final 20 minutes.

“It’s early,” he said. “We’re just not guarding anybody. That’s a heck of a thing coming into Kentucky.

“We shot over 55 percent in the first half, and we must have gotten eight or nine layups,” Coles noted. “But in the second half they had much more energy than us.”

The Miami coach said he’ll have to figure a way not to have the ball in Kenny Hayes’ hands so much of the time to allow him to move without the basketball, which makes him more effective.

“We’ll have to figure out some things,” Coles said. “The problem is, we don’t have a lot of time to do it. But that’s the way it usually is this time of year.

“We have to play great halfcourt defense,” he said, “and we can’t turn the ball over 20 times.”

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