OXFORD — Antwone Woolfolk played a pivotal role for the Miami RedHawks early and often Tuesday night.
Woolfolk recorded his first career double-double — a career-high 21 points, adding 10 rebounds — and Miami beat Eastern Michigan 89-80 inside Millett Hall.
“It feels good,” said Woolfolk, a 6-foot-9, junior forward who scored Miami’s first four points. “Just being able to contribute — having a dominant game. I feel like that’s something I can do more often. But it was big-time. We needed this one.
“I knew I had to be more aggressive, while also settling down at the same time,” Woolfolk added of the Mid-American Conference clash that had 47 total fouls called. “We all knew the gameplan coming in.
“It was fun. I love to rumble. That’s something I like to do. Credit to those guys. They were beasts on the glass as well.”
Miami, which is off to its best start since the 1998-99 season, had six players score in double figures and outrebounded Eastern Michigan 37-32.
The RedHawks (15-5, 7-1 MAC) are winners of nine of their last 10 after having an eight-game winning streak snapped at Akron in a battle of the MAC’s top two teams Saturday.
“Great bounce-back from our guys,” said Miami third-year coach Travis Steele, whose RedHawks were handed a 102-75 loss to the Zips. “We just talked about response. Obviously didn’t get the result that we wanted at Akron on Saturday. I think we were all a little embarrassed with our performance.
“It was a big moment for us on Saturday. It’s probably been the first big moment in … it’s been a long time around here. And I don’t think our program was quite ready for that yet. Sometimes you have to fail — it’s part of growth. You’ve got to learn from it, get better. You’ve got to own that performance, so the next time we have those opportunities, we’ll be able to capitalize.”
Miami snapped Eastern Michigan’s three-game winning streak, dropping the Eagles to 10-10 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.
“We knew we took a big loss Saturday,” Woolfolk said. “We knew we had to get off the mat coming into here. It’s easy coming home to play games — especially with fans here showing much love to us.”
Evan Ipsaro connected on a pair of free throws to give Miami its largest lead at 59-38 with 15:53 left to play. That capped off a 12-0 run for the RedHawks.
Eastern Michigan went on a 9-2 run to pull to within 72-64 with 6:09 remaining, but Peter Suder knocked down a 3-pointer a minute later to lift Miami’s lead back to double digits.
Suder finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Mekhi Cooper (13), Brant Byers (12), Reece Potter (10) and Ipsaro (10) contributed on the offensive end for the RedHawks.
Christian Henry had a game-high 25 points for Eastern Michigan.
Injury report
Miami starting forward Eian Elmer did not play on Tuesday. The Taft High School graduate started in every game prior this season.
“There’s nothing long-term,” Steele said. “Very short-term. I think he’ll obviously play on Saturday. I anticipate he’s going to practice on Thursday. But we just held him out just to be safe.”
Elmer is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.8 points a game. He also brings down 4.5 rebounds a contest.
Ranking recognition
Miami was selected to the Mid-Major Top 25 Poll for the third consecutive week on Monday. The RedHawks were slotted No. 21 in the rankings.
The Mid-Major Top 25 is voted on by 31 Division I coaches and currently in its 26th season.
Up next
Miami hosts Ohio on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. inside Millett Hall. This is alumni weekend for Miami, with former men’s basketball players making a return — including Wayne Embry and Wally Szczerbiak.
“You want to play in these games as a competitor,” Steele said. “As a true competitor, this is what you want — to play meaningful basketball games.
“Ohio’s got a really good program. They’ve got tremendous players. I know they’re going to be ready to play here on Saturday. I guarantee we’re going to get their best shot. But they’ve got to get Miami’s best shot. We’re not sneaking up on anybody anymore.”
