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Men's hoops wins home opener

Emily Simanskis, The Miami Student

Miami University's men's basketball team started slow but commandingly finished its home opener Friday afternoon against Muskingum University. The RedHawks beat the Fighting Muskies 84-57, with major contributions from guards freshman Michael Weathers and redshirt sophomore Jake Wright.

"In the first couple of timeouts it looked like we were dead," head coach John Cooper said. "Guys, you know, were a little overanxious. There was a point in the late middle first half into the second half when we finally settled down and were able to execute and do a few things."

The cheerleaders' encouragement from the sidelines reverberated throughout Millett Hall as the players' shoes began to squeak. Miami won the tip and quickly made a layup to start the 2016-2017 season.

The Fighting Muskies responded to the RedHawks' early two points and led for six minutes after their first basket at 18:27. The Muskies took advantage of several RedHawk turnovers, missed rebounds and free throws, and lack of early offensive production.

"All in all, I'll take it. I'm not pleased with the free throws--we missed too many free throws and then too many turnovers," Cooper said. "So those are two things we hopefully can clean up."

Dion Wade, a redshirt junior guard, put the RedHawks ahead at 11:57, and seven successive points from Weathers established a calmness through the team.

For the rest of the first half, Miami's lead never dwindled below two baskets. Muskingum fought back with multiple three pointers and free throws but the RedHawks shook any early nervousness and hit their stride.

Weathers finished the first half with 16 points but showed his youth with five turnovers. Wright and junior forward Logan McLane each ended the first 20 minutes with six points and three turnovers.

"I don't know how many turnovers we had, but I know it was way too many," McLane said. "We need to grab the ball with two hands, like the coaches emphasize every day."

The second half began at 38-32 and Miami showed no sign of its earlier uncertainty. A relatively quiet offensive first ten minutes were marred with missed rebounds and jumpers and the entire court contributed to answering Muskingum's occasional baskets to ensure a lead of 60-38 at 9:32.

Miami's biggest lead came at 4:53, when it held a 30-point advantage.

Freshman forward Marcus Weathers, twin of Michael, junior guard Abdoulaye Harouna and freshman center Darius Harper each picked up points the final minutes.

"If you look at the stats sheet, you're going to see scoring that's going to be up and down, which I think is going to help us throughout the season," Cooper said.

The Muskies saw notable contributions from freshman forward Cameron Miller who chipped in nine points while sophomore guard Jarrell Marsh and senior forward Rickey Wilson each had 7 points.

The RedHawks finished with 53 total rebounds and double-digit numbers in blocks and steals. They look to improve on their turnovers, ball possession and free throws--they had 20 total turnovers and were 19-for-31 on free throw attempts.

Michael Weathers finished with 21 points, Wright with 13 and Marcus Weathers with 11.

On Tuesday, the Red and White take on Wright State University at 7 p.m. in Dayton, Ohio. Miami faced this non-conference opponent last year and won 72-67, but lost the year before 68-59.

The Raiders are coming off a win on the road and will open their season at home against the RedHawks. MU will look to draw upon its young talent, as Wright State's freshmen have no points on the season.

"They've come a long way since they came here in the summer," McLane said. "They're definitely going to be turning a lot of heads in college basketball. I see it every day in practice, just like the older guys do, so now they just have to do it every day and every game."