Miami’s Millett Hall is a 44-year-old brick facility that is intended to seat 9,200 onlookers. The RedHawks have called it home for the past 39 seasons, during which their games with Ohio have filled the venue to capacity four times.
These days, Miami’s crowds are sparse and curtains curtail the empty expanse that would otherwise echo in their absence.
For reasons that he can’t completely explain, Ivo Baltic, an Ohio (13-5, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) senior forward, loves the feeling that comes with playing on the RedHawks’ dimly lit home court.
“It’s just one of those feelings where I walk into that gym and just feel good,” he said.
In his three trips to Millett Hall, Baltic has played in front of a crowd that cumulatively equates to just more than two thirds of the facility’s capacity. The RedHawks (7-9, 2-2 MAC) drew just 1,683 fans for last year’s game against the Bobcats — a nine-point Ohio win.
Low attendance aside, Baltic has had the RedHawks’ number in his two games there as a starter.
He has totaled 20 points and 16 rebounds in Ohio’s last two away meetings with Miami.
Baltic said many don’t share his feeling about Millett Hall, but the combination of the RedHawks’ home record and the teams’ rivalry is enough to get anyone up for the game.
“I don’t know why a lot of people don’t like it,” he said. “I just like the whole setting of it. They don’t have the best fans, but it’s good enough, and obviously, they’re our rivals.”
This time around, the Battle of the Bricks rivalry will be missing a key piece of its history for the first time in 16 seasons.
Longtime Miami coach Charlie Coles announced his resignation at the age of 70 after the RedHawks’ season-ending loss to Toledo in the MAC Tournament last year.
Coles, who was known for his colorful, charismatic nature, compiled a 263-224 record with the RedHawks, and can be remembered with a quick YouTube search for his quirky postgame quips.
Newcomer John Cooper, formerly of the same position at Tennessee State, has had to deal with a new cast of characters leading his frontcourt this season, as MAC first-team selection Julian Mavunga graduated and now plays professionally in Europe.
Mavunga’s running mate last season, junior Jon Harris, now plays second fiddle to redshirt junior Will Felder, a transfer from Saint Francis (Pennsylvania), who sat out last season because of NCAA transfer regulations.
He averages 11 points and five rebounds per game and is a player whose role is tough to place in one particular category.
“Felder is a more versatile guy — one of the more versatile post players in the league,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “He shoots threes, posts around the basket, is real athletic (and) rebounds the ball.”
He shoots 55 percent from the field, and has made nine of his 31 three-point attempts this season.
Dishing him the ball is a more familiar face to the Bobcats: redshirt junior guard Allen Roberts.
After starting the RedHawks’ final 13 games two seasons ago, Roberts was confined to the sideline last year because of a right knee injury.
This season, though, he’s back in full force, averaging a team-high of 13 points.
Christian labeled him as a player who can efficiently make shots by both driving the basket and stepping back off the dribble.
He noted that Ohio has made three-point shooting an area of emphasis against Miami, being that his club shot only 26 percent from long range during its last 60 minutes of game play.
Snappy ball movement will be key to the Bobcats getting open looks, as Miami utilizes a very aggressive defensive scheme.
“They press most of the game, (and) trap a lot at different spots on the floor,” Christian said. “It’s one of those games where you have to be really value-conscious of the basketball and shoot the ball well.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
