A great start led to a very good day for the Miami University men’s basketball team.

The RedHawks roared to a 26-7 lead in the opening 11 minutes and notched their second straight win Saturday afternoon, topping James Madison 76-58 before a crowd of 1,426 at Millett Hall.

“It was the earliest game we’ve had all year, so guys had to wake themselves up,” said junior forward Jon Harris, who had 15 points and eight rebounds. “Students are on break, so we had to create our own energy for ourselves. We got a lot of steals and easy layups, and the lead kept building and building.”

It took MU just 79 seconds to surge ahead 9-0 and the hosts never trailed, improving to 3-2 under first-year coach John Cooper.

Freshman Reggie Johnson nailed 5-of-7 treys and led all scorers with 21 points. Will Felder scored 12, while Quinten Rollins added 10 points, 10 assists and six boards.

“I thought we were ready to play from the beginning,” Cooper said. “Obviously they came back as good teams will, but at important times during the game, we were able to keep our lead.

“It goes back to making shots. Shots give you energy. They started the game off in a zone and we were able to shoot the ball extremely well, so we were able to get them out of their zone defense.”

Miami’s pressure defense was effective early because of its hot shooting, and the RedHawks’ field-goal percentage was 49.0. MU only notched six steals, yet limited the Dukes to 38.3-percent shooting.

Devon Moore (17), Rayshawn Goins (14) and Ron Curry (10) paced the scoring for James Madison (1-4).

“I give Miami all the credit,” Dukes coach Matt Brady said. “I thought they played with superior energy and toughness for all 40 minutes. For the third road game in as many attempts, we’ve dug ourselves a big hole, and we’re not near good enough to climb out of the holes we’ve allowed ourselves to get into.”

Moore sparked a JMU run that cut MU’s advantage to 28-20 with 5:33 left in the first half, but that was as close as the Dukes would get.

Felder snagged seven caroms to boost the RedHawks’ 35-28 board advantage. Miami was 17-of-22 at the foul line — James Madison was 17-of-28.

Cooper had special praise for Rollins and his all-around performance.

“Q was really, really impressive,” the MU coach said. “He was responsible for at least 30 points tonight, and that’s pretty doggone good for a point guard.”

James Madison collected 15 turnovers, one more than Miami. The RedHawks were 9-of-23 from 3-point range, and the Dukes hit 5-of-20 shots beyond the arc.

Miami heads to Fort Wayne, Ind., to face IPFW next Saturday night.