McKnight, a Middletown native, was scoreless the last two games. Against the Bobcats, he was 3 of 8 from the floor, 1 of 1 from 3-point range and 4 of 4 at the charity stripe.
“I just tried to be the spark and tried to get a few steals,” McKnight said. “I just got a little confidence and started getting some buckets.”
“He struggled in the first half, but I thought as the game wore on, he was giving us a positive contribution,” RedHawks coach John Cooper said. “His energy was good.”
McKnight also collected a career-high four steals and three rebounds while committing just one turnover in 20 minutes.
Lineup shuffle: Cooper made a change in the lineup Wednesday, starting forward Jon Harris in place of guard Reggie Johnson.
Harris did grab eight rebounds, yet made only 1 of 8 shots and scored three points. Johnson had five points on 2-of-9 shooting.
“Reggie’s been struggling a little bit, maybe pressing,” Cooper said. “Some people talk about maybe he’s hit the freshman wall if there is such a thing. I don’t know.”
Cats on a roll: Ohio has won six straight games and is 5-o in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
“Probably the last three weeks we’ve played really well,” said Bobcats coach Jim Christian, an assistant at Miami during the 1995-96 campaign. “Our defensive intensity has gone up. Our attention to detail has gone up a little bit. I don’t think there’s any formula or reason for it or any magic speech. I think they just realized it was time to step it up.”
Notebook: Miami and Ohio were even in rebounds (36-36). It was one of the few times this year the RedHawks haven't lost the battle of the boards. … Senior forward Ivo Baltic needed 11 points to become the 34th player in Bobcat history to reach 1,000, and he scored 13. … MU's Jon Harris matched his career high in rebounding with eight boards.
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