OXFORD — The Miami University men’s basketball team is shredding the net.
Kam Craft and the RedHawks are well aware that it’s been their signature as of late.
“We’re shooting it like crazy,” said Craft, a redshirt sophomore wing. “I think our shooting percentage — we’re top 10 in the country right now. That’s just what our team does. We have the pieces to do it, and we’re just going to continue to let it fly. Why not?”
Exactly. Why not?
Craft scored a game-high 23 points, and Miami had another standout offensive performance in a 91-71 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday inside Millett Hall.
The RedHawks rank eighth nationally in 3-pointers per game (11.3), eighth in 3-point percentage (.402), 12th in turnover margin (5.1), 16th in forced turnovers per game (16.21) and 18th in field goal percentage (.496).
Miami moves to 11-4 and is 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the first time since the 2005-06 season. The RedHawks have won five in a row and are 7-1 at home.
“It’s our process,” Craft said. “We never look too far ahead or too far in the past. I think our practices have been great. We just keep meshing as a team, following the game plan, watching film, staying in the gym and just trusting what the game plan is and what the coaches are telling us to do.”
The RedHawks used a quick start to jump ahead of the Broncos 11-4, and a Craft jumper gave Miami its first double-digit lead at 18-8 with 13:11 left in the opening half.
Craft and Reece Potter drained a pair of 3-pointers to extend Miami’s lead to 47-21 with two minutes left in the first half. Craft added another shot from behind the arc, and an Evan Ipsaro floater sent the RedHawks into the locker room with a 54-23 advantage.
Craft hit two 3-pointers in the second half to give Miami 34-point leads in two separate instances, and Western Michigan couldn’t battle its way back.
“I think we brought a lot of energy from the jump,” Craft said. “For the first half, I think it was our best offensive execution we’ve had all season. We were shooting well, cutting well, playing defense. I also think it was also one of our best defensive halves. We were just clicking on all cylinders.”
The takeaway
Miami third-year coach Travis Steele said he isn’t quite sure when his team will put together an offensive burst each game.
But he knows it will show up somewhere.
“I told our guys that our run is going to happen,” Steele said. “I don’t know whether it’s going to be the beginning of the game, the middle, towards the end. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
“We’re just too talented on offense because our ball moves and our pace of play. We’ve just got so many threats, which I think makes us really, really difficult to guard.”
Miami used a 10-point scoring run that fed into the second half to separate things, and the RedHawks went on to shoot over 50% from the floor (33 of 61) for the eighth time this season.
Suder finished with 16 points for Miami, which assisted on 20 of its 33 made field goals. Brant Byers and Potter each had 14 points.
Up next
Miami continues conference play by traveling to Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
