Before every game, Miami coach Charlie Coles said he puts a message on the board for his team to focus on.
For Saturday's game against Ball State, it was all about matching the energy of a team who'd lost its previous three games.
Ball State didn't share the same urgency as a 16-point halftime deficit turned into a 59-53 loss in front of 3,917 fans at Worthen Arena.
The little energy the Cardinals showed in the first half was negative. Ball State coach Billy Taylor said his team's mistakes compounded as bad shot selection led to miscues on defense.
In one sequence, sophomore guard Jesse Berry drove the right baseline, got cut off and forced up a shot while falling out of bounds early in the shot clock. It led to a Miami score in transition and fellow sophomore Tyrae Robinson to tell Berry to "calm down."
When Ball State forced Miami into the half court, 30 seconds of good defense often resulted in uncontested looks for Miami late in the shot clock. The little desperation needed to fight over screens or put a hand up wasn't there.
"Clearly, I was disappointed with the effort in the first half," Taylor said. "I thought our guys came out and battled hard in the second half. We were just trying to search for a combination that could give us some positive energy, beat up the glass and defend. I thought we got that more so in the second half."
Taylor found that in a five of Zach Fields, Aaron Adeoye, Zeke Chapman, Jauwan Scaife and Randy Davis.
After senior center Jarrod Jones got two quick fouls in nine seconds, Taylor brought in Adeoye and the five players went on a 12-5 run to open the half.
The energy was high and even the mild-mannered Taylor got in on the action. He picked up the first technical foul of his 10-year coaching career after arguing a foul call inside.
Most of the energy was brought by Adeoye as he posted a season-high in points (8), rebounds (11) and minutes with 26. He also guarded Miami's Preseason All-Mid-American Conference East Division Selection Julian Mavunga for the bulk of his minutes and limited him to 10 points.
"I thought he [Adeoye] has an amazing physical presence in the lane," Taylor said. "I thought he did a great job hammering the glass. He got us extra possessions--kick outs and he scored some of them. I was really encouraged by Aaron's play in there. He did a great job on both ends of the floor."
Adeoye's inside game was bolstered by the play of Robinson on the perimeter. He led the Cardinals with 14 points as he consistently split double teams to create open shots.
"I knew I was going to have trouble out of Robinson," Coles said. "I just knew that. That kid is pretty good off the dribble."
Both Adeoye and Robinson kept Ball State close, cutting the lead to single digits several times. Each time, however, freshman guard Brian Sullivan and the RedHawks had an answer.
With 6:42 left in the game, Sullivan hit a fading 3-pointer in between the outstretched hands of Davis and Jones to push the lead back to 10 points.
"I thought it was a pretty big moment in the game and I hadn't gotten a clean look in a while," Sullivan said. "We were struggling scoring a little bit, so I just wanted to be aggressive and shoot it."
Sullivan continued to shoot as Ball State cut the lead to three points with 11 seconds left. Sullivan hit 1-of-2 from the line and the Cardinals missed on the other end to seal the game.
After the loss, it was clear starter's minutes are still up for grabs. Taylor benched Berry and sophomore forward Chris Bond for the entire second half after starting the game.
"We just gotta come and compete," Robinson said. "Like coach Taylor says, whoever is going to come and compete is who will be on the floor."
Saturday's loss was Ball State's fourth in a row and dropped its MAC record to 4-5 (12-9 overall). It is the first time since the 2009-10 season the Cardinals dropped below .500 in the conference.
Miami is in a similar situation sitting at 3-6 in the conference, but Mavunga said he still sees good things coming for Ball State.
"I think at the end of the season, they're going to be near the top," Mavunga said. "They hustle, they play hard--they have all the intangibles good teams have. They've just got to do what we did and figure it out."
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