UK game in past, Miami men’s hoops looks forward to Travelers tourney

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Kentucky's John Wall goes between Miami of Ohio's Julian Mavunga (4) and Nick Winbush (20) for a basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Wall had 19 points in Kentucky's 72-70 win.

AP Photo Kentucky's John Wall goes between Miami of Ohio's Julian Mavunga (4) and Nick Winbush (20) for a basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Wall had 19 points in Kentucky's 72-70 win.

RedHawks coach Charlie Coles says wild loss to Wildcats could be a positive for team.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 9:10 AM Friday, November 20, 2009

OXFORD — The immediate impact of Miami University’s near miss at Rupp Arena can go either way for the RedHawks, coach Charlie Coles said.

“Long term, I think it’s a positive,” he said of Miami’s 72-70 loss to the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. “We can point back to this in a month and say to the team, look, we know we’re capable. Let’s do it. I think that can be a rallying point for the rest of the year.”

The rest of the year starts Friday, Nov. 20, as Miami’s stretch of five consecutive road games to start the season continues against Louisiana Tech in the Basketball Travelers Tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.

Coles can only hope that Monday night’s drama at Kentucky — Miami’s early 36-18 lead, UK’s 15-0 rally to get back into the game, Kenny Hayes’ game-tying shot with 6 seconds left, John Wall’s game-winner with less than a second on the clock — hasn’t sapped the strength of the RedHawks.

“In the short term, you never know how much energy was spent,” he said. “Physical energy, emotional energy.”

One thing Coles does know is that Miami junior Antonio Ballard, who has been slowed by injuries over the last three years, is back in full force.

Against the Wildcats, Ballard hit a critical 3-point basket late in the second half and followed that a couple minutes later by converting a three-point play. He finished with nine points in 19 minutes off the bench.

“I’ve been hard on Tone a little bit,” Coles admitted. “I got mad at him because he got hurt, and he had no control over that.

“I was glad to see him come out of his shell,” he said. “You have to remember, he had to come back and get his timing back. He’s a great athlete.”

Ballard and his teammates will play three games in the Travelers tourney over the next three days against teams that averaged 19 wins last year. Miami will play Nicholls State at 8 p.m. on Saturday, and New Mexico at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

But first comes Louisiana Tech.

“The theme is, we’ve got to come out and face a real good bunch of athletes,” Coles said. “They’ve got every bit the athletes Towson has, and I thought Towson had some very good athletes.”

“Nicholls State is a little bit of the same,” he said. “They have good athletes and they’re expecting a good year. New Mexico also is expecting to have a good year.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.