The national heavyweights are out of the way. Now the Miami University men’s basketball team can really start moving forward.

The RedHawks, who sandwiched heavy defeats to North Carolina State and Louisville around a victory over Grambling State, are back on the road tonight, facing William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

“There is a discovery process going on,” first-year MU coach John Cooper said. “This group will continue to get better. If they bear it out and bring their minds and bodies to get better every day, good things will happen.”

Sunday’s 80-39 loss at second-ranked Louisville wasn’t pretty, though Miami did some things well early before getting overwhelmed.

“It’s not the end of the world,” Cooper said. “My mind-set is, how do we come back after that loss? Do we stand up and are we accounted for? That’s what’s important to me.”

Redshirt junior forward Will Felder, averaging 5.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, said the RedHawks are far from discouraged.

“We’re real positive,” he said. “Every day is a new day, and I see improvement every single game.”

Felder admitted there were some breakdowns against Louisville, but sometimes the Cardinals were successful even when Miami was technically sound.

“That’s what players do,” Felder said. “There’s not much you can say about that other than just make sure you’re always at the right spots at the right times.”

MU is only shooting 34.3 percent from the field (29.4 percent from 3-point range), though Bill Edwards (6-of-10) and Reggie Johnson (5-of-11) have been strong beyond the arc.

Tonight’s opponent was just 6-26 last season, but is off to a 3-0 start, having beaten Hampton, Liberty and High Point. William & Mary, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, is scoring 74.3 points and giving up 57.0 per game.

The Tribe’s top three scorers are sophomore guard Marcus Thornton (18.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.3 apg), 6-foot-9 junior forward Tim Rusthoven (18.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and junior guard Brandon Britt (17.0 popg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg). All three are shooting well above 50 percent from the floor.

“They run the Princeton offense, but they’re also very good in transition,” Cooper said. “Marcus Thornton can really shoot it and carve up your defense. They’ve been able to funnel offense through Rusthoven. He doesn’t do anything flashy. He knocks in his open shots, gets it inside, scores or gets fouled, uses both hands. My kind of guy.”

Said Felder, “You’ve got to force your will on the opponent. That’s what we’re going to try to do. We’ve got to come out and force our pressuring style on them.”

Miami will fly back to Oxford on Thursday and go through a light practice before the RedHawks head out for Thanksgiving dinner at local players’ homes. The team will practice again Friday before hosting James Madison at noon Saturday.

“We were going to do a team meal, but we have enough guys that are close enough that they can get home for an evening meal,” Cooper said. “My rule is, you have to go somewhere or you have to go to my home. They all say they’ve got a place. Typically they’ll stay away from the coaches a little bit.”

MU has a 5-0 advantage in the series against William & Mary and beat the Tribe 73-69 last season at Millett Hall.