There’s a nasty virus going around that pretty much kicks both butt and gut for 24 hours. That’s followed by a small “recovery” period as the afflicted try to regain their “norm.”
One might say the Miami RedHawks were able to condense that “recovery” phase into half of the first half Tuesday night. Regaining their form allowed them to rally past visiting Akron 79-64 at Millett Hall.
. . . early Tuesday as MU failed to make a basket outside of six feet until nearly eight minutes had elapsed.
Meanwhile, Akron, coming off a double overtime 111-106 loss at Ball State Saturday, was again on target. The Zips built a 19-6 lead before freshman Nike Sibande hit a 3-pointer for MU at 12:12.
The visitors were up 11 when freshman forward Dalonte Brown scored on a layup at 10:49. That kicked off a 15-2 run for Miami. Isaiah Coleman-Lands drew the RedHawks even (24-all) with a trey at 7:08 and Logan McLane put MU in front for the first time with a layup one possession later.
"It seems like he (Coleman-Lands) calms the storm," Miami head coach Jack Owens said. "He's been so good for the last two weeks -- doing his job. He's a selfless guy."
There were three more ties in the half, but Miami never trailed after that. Two Bowman free throws at 2:54 put the hosts in front to stay as MU finished the period with a 10-0 run to lead 41-31.
"I thought after we got off to a slow start, our guys really got going -- offensively and defensively," Owens said. "Once we got going and took the lead, we did some really good things."
Akron got three chances at the line before intermission, sinking all three. The Zips were 12 of 30 (40%) from the field and 4 of 17 (23.5%) on treys.
When play resumed, the RedHawks built their advantage to 15 points following a Ringo triple at 14:49. MU reached a game-high 17-point lead after Bowman’s 3-point goal at 10:17.
"They usually don't think I can shoot (out there), but it's a nice surprise," said the 6-8, 275-pound sophomore.
"He's a good 3-point shooter, but he can also score with his back to the basket," Owens said. "It's important for us to just keep him involved ... working inside and out."
Brown hit 6 of 10 shots from the field on the way to a game-high 17 points. Bowman tallied 13, while Sibande and Ringo contributed a dozen each. McLane rounded out Miami’s double figure scorers with 10 points and registered a team-high eight rebounds.
The victory raised Miami’s record to 12-10 overall, eclipsing last year’s 11-win total. The RedHawks are 4-4 in MAC play to date after going 4-14 in 2016-17.
"We don't even talk about last year," Owens said. "We're a new team. We're just trying to move forward and ... position ourself the best we can for the conference tournament. ... Everything is still right in front of us. ... We can control our own destiny."
Akron fell to 10-11 overall, 3-6 MAC as the Zips remain winless in road tilts this season.
Akron shot 40.7 percent from the field overall, but was 7 of 31 (22.6%) from beyond the arc. The Zips hit 9 of 10 charity tosses.
"To be able to hold them to 22 percent (on threes was definitely something that we tried to do, because they're a good 3-point shooting team," Owens said.
MU helped itself with nine steals, contributing to a 12-5 advantage in points off turnovers. Four of the steals were registered by Ringo, who also owned 11 of Miami’s 16 assists. He leads the MAC in both categories (7.8 apg and 2.7 spg) and is among national leaders.
NEXT:
Miami is at Northern Illinois Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET).
Akron hosts Toledo Saturday at noon (ET).