Millett Hall is becoming a very enjoyable place for Reggie Johnson.

The Miami University freshman guard scored 16 points in an 84-67 men’s basketball victory over Wilmington on Sunday, and he’s averaging 17.3 points in four home games this season. On the road, his average is 6.7.

“I always tell (RedHawks point guard Quinten Rollins) that I’ve got to get it going on the road,” Johnson said. “I don’t know what it is, but it seems like we always come home when we’re in slumps.

“If you’re at home and start getting down, your fans will build you up. On the road, when things stop going your way, it’s not just things not going your way. You have the other team’s crowd going against you. You have a lot more built into it.”

MU coach John Cooper said it’s not surprising that a freshman would struggle on the road.

“When you come from high school and go to college, it is completely different,” Cooper said. “When you’re playing high school, you can eat a Big Mac before the game and still go out and score 30. You eat a Big Mac at this level, you’ll puke it up. It’s part of a growing process.”

Miami didn’t start pulling away from the Division III Quakers until midway through the second half, and Johnson said the RedHawks may have taken them a bit lightly.

“That was the talk before the game to make sure we didn’t do that, but it seemed like we did from the start,” Johnson said. “We were lackadaisical with a lot of things. They were beating us with everything, and you could see that the momentum was shifting their way. Luckily we were able to get a hold on them before it got too ugly and (they) took the lead.”

A fine career: Wilmington senior guard Brandon Candella, a Lakota West High School graduate, put up 16 points Sunday and now has 855 in his career.

“Throughout the years, I’ve been blessed to play with All-Americans, with insanely athletic and dominant big men like Malcolm Heard,” Candella said. “I’ve always been blessed to have pieces around me to where I’m not really the centerpiece of the scouting report, so I’ve kind of been able to slide in and have a good career.

“It’s been an awesome four years. I have no regrets coming to Wilmington.”

College teammates: Cooper and Wilmington coach K.C. Hunt played together at Wichita State and have stayed in contact through the years. Hunt said Cooper helped him adjust to college basketball.

“I’ve thanked him for that, and I’ve also thanked him for advice on what it’s like to be a head coach,” Hunt said. “He’s a guy that I’ve looked up to for many number of years. Ultimately, I think he’s going to do massively great things here at Miami. This is going to be an NCAA tournament program before you know it.”