Stories Courtesy of MAC Media Relations Offices

No. 19 Cincinnati 63, Miami 59
CINCINNATI - A scrappy and defensive Miami University men's basketball team gave No. 19 Cincinnati all it could handle Thursday night at U.S. Bank Arena, trailing by just two points with five minutes to play, but the RedHawks were unable to snag the lead as the Bearcats snuck away with the 63-59 victory.

Senior guard Kenny Hayes scored a game-high 19 points while sophomore forward Julian Mavunga and junior forward Nick Winbush each pitched in 13 points, as the trio nailed seven of Miami's nine trifectas with the two forwards combining for 12 rebounds.

Miami (2-7) was within single digits for the majority of the game, trailing Cincinnati (6-1) by 10 for just a few seconds with a minute to play, but rallied to close within four by the final buzzer. The biggest difference was at the free throw line where the Bearcats were 21-of-32 from the charity stripe while the 'Hawks got to the line just three times, making two freebies.

Cincinnati steadily built a nine-point lead by the 10:17 mark of the first half, 15-6. Miami staged a 9-2 run over the next two minutes to pull within two or the Bearcats, 17-15. The RedHawk run was powered by layups from Mavunga, Hayes and junior guard Rodney Haddix II and capped by a sophomore guard Kramer Soderberg 3-pointer.

The Bearcats pushed their lead back to seven points, 22-15, with 6:15 remaining. But Miami came back again, pulling within one point, 24-23, by the 1:43 mark on an 8-2 surge. Winbush drained a trey and a jumper, while Mavunga also knocked down a 3-pointer. Neither team would scored over the remaining minutes giving the Bearcats a one-point edge into the half.

In the second half, Cincinnati again built its lead to nine points, 39-30 by the 14:20 mark and again led by nine points with 10:51 to play, 44-35. Using a 10-3 run, off treys from Hayes and Winbush and a pair of buckets from Mavunga, the RedHawks closed within two points by the 6:13 mark, 47-45. A pair of Hayes free throws with five minutes remaining again put the RedHawks within two, 49-47, but eight unanswered points by the Bearcats over the next four minutes pushed the UC lead to double digits with just under a minute to play, 57-47.

Miami went 5-for-5 from the field over the remaining seconds, including draining a pair of treys in the final flurry, but was only able to overcome the Bearcat lead and dropped the four-point decision.

Lance Stephenson led the Bearcats with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Miami returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 13, hosting Wright State at 3 p.m. as part of Rivalry Weekend.

Toledo 73, IPFW 72
TOLEDO, OH - Freshman G Jake Barnett's driving layup with 11 seconds remaining lifted Toledo (3-7) to a 73-72 triumph over IPFW (2-5) and sent the fans home happy on Thursday evening at Savage Arena. Junior F Mouhamed Lo followed Barnett's bucket by blocking a shot to seal the victory and give the Rockets their third victory in the last four contests.

"IPFW took a lead at the end and we drew up a play for Jake," Toledo Head Coach Gene Cross said. "I've said it a million times and I'll keep saying it, but there is no other person on this team that I'd rather have take the last shot than Jake Barnett. Justin (Anyijong) got Jake free, Jake made a play and Mouhamed (Lo) was ready to rebound."

"The play was designed for me to come off a pick and roll," Barnett said. "I came off it and knew when I turned the corner that I wasn't giving it up. (IPFW's Jeremy) Mixon stepped up, and I was happy he didn't take a charge and that the shot went in. Our team really stepped up tonight, and we had a lot of guys contribute for us. I just happened to have the ball in my hands at the end and hit the shot, but it doesn't take anything away from what the rest of the team accomplished tonight."

The Rockets held a 70-63 advantage with 2:30 remaining but saw the Mastodons go on a 9-1 run to set the stage for Barnett's heroics. Head Coach Gene Cross wasn't pleased his young club let that lead slip away, but saw the game's finish as a plus since it was the first time UT had a game decided in the final minute this season.

"It was disappointing that we let the lead slip away but in the same breath it was probably good for us to experience a game like this," Cross said. "Our young guys haven't dealt with these end-of-game situations before with the game still in the balance."

Barnett and sophomore G Jay Shunnar shared team scoring honors with 16 points apiece, while Lo was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field en route to a 15-point performance. A walk-on sophomore, Shunnar also dished out five assists in a season-high 29 minutes after scoring seven points in 27 minutes vs. Wright State on Tuesday.

"I'm almost speechless about Jay's performance," Cross said. "Jay has earned his playing time in practice, and to his credit he has taken full advantage of it. I'm proud of him. He does things Division I basketball players do, and that's what he is."

Shunnar said, "I think the coaches are starting to trust me. I think if you practice hard and prove yourself, your time will come."
Lo's offensive showing played a big part in the Rockets posting a season-best 56.0 field-goal percentage.

"We need Mouhamed to play solid for us and that's what he was tonight." Cross said. "He made only one or two mistakes that I can remember, and we need him to play like this to be a good basketball team."

Toledo fell behind by a 10-3 margin four minutes into the game but ended up taking a 42-35 lead into intermission. Three straight three-point bombs late in the half was the big difference and gave UT a 40-30 advantage. Redshirt freshman G Stephen Albrecht hit the first two and Shunnar capped it off with his third trey of the half.

"We can't seem to get out of the gates," Cross said. "We wound up battling back by making some good offensive plays and shooting the ball extremely well. We also came out sluggish in the second half and they started attacking us off the dribble. We have to do a better job of getting stops and keeping teams out of our paint and off the free-throw line."

The Rockets will now conclude their busy week with a trip to Valparaiso, IN to face the Crusaders (3-6). Tip-off time is set for 2:00 p.m. CST.