Tonight will be John Cooper’s first home game as Miami University’s head men’s basketball coach. It’s safe to say he’s not focusing on that fact.

“I don’t even look at it that way,” Cooper said of the contest against Grambling State at Millett Hall. “For me, it’s an opportunity to start understanding what it takes and how you get good as a program. We have to do a great job of protecting the home court.”

The RedHawks opened the season with a sledgehammer loss at sixth-ranked North Carolina State last Friday. Among the statistical leaders in the 97-59 setback were Allen Roberts (16 points), Drew McGhee (nine points, six rebounds) and Bill Edwards (eight points, four boards).

“When you lose by 38, our team did not play well,” Cooper said. “I didn’t think guys were dogging it. We just need a lot better attention to detail.”

The first starting lineup included Quinten Rollins, Roberts, Edwards, Will Felder and Jon Harris. Asked about tonight’s starters, Cooper said he couldn’t guarantee that it would be the same.

Grambling hasn’t gotten off to a good start under first-year coach Joseph Price. The Tigers are beginning the season with 11 straight road games and are 0-2, getting blown out by Cleveland State (92-49) and then Ball State (78-51).

Freshman guard Terry Rose has been Grambling’s top player, averaging 19 points per game while hitting 7-of-17 treys. Peter Roberson, a 7-foot, 245-pound senior center, is averaging 6.5 points and 6.0 boards per contest.

The Tigers were 4-24 overall and 4-14 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference last year.

“They’re in the midst of doing a tour through this part of the country, so it made sense that we were able to get them on the schedule,” said Cooper, noting that the Louisiana school is getting some guaranteed money to play in Oxford. “I think they like to get up and down the court, and they play mostly man-to-man defense. That’s what we’re expecting.

“They’ve struggled shooting the ball, but if you look at our first game and the exhibition game, we haven’t shot the ball well either. So we’re going to have to come out and get after them. We have to focus on getting better and having some competitiveness.”

Grambling is shooting 32.6 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from 3-point range and 76.9 percent from the foul line. The Tigers have 36 turnovers.