What makes the trip more of a concern is the weather forecast, which had some media members recalling Miami’s trip to Toledo in late January of 1978. The then-Redskins’ journey home was interrupted by a blizzard that forced the team and some media members to spend the night in the Vandalia jail.
Having dealt with games being cancelled or postponed because of protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic, fourth-year Miami coach Jack Owens was learning to take in stride such distractions.
“With everything that’s been going on, you have to adjust to whatever is at hand,” he said during a Monday ZOOM media session. “If we have to stay out, you have to consider that guys are taking classes, too. We’ll be smart and use our best judgement and go from here.
“We’re aware of it. We feel like we can take care of business. One home game out of five is what it is.
“It’s definitely been to an extreme level,” he added. “You definitely have to love what you do. It’s been no kind of picnic.”
The RedHawks are scheduled to return home from Toledo before leaving for a trip to Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill., followed by the home regular-season finale on Feb. 27 against Kent State, which beat Miami , 77-68, earlier this month. The RedHawks then are due to return to the road for games at Bowling Green on March 2 and at Akron on March 5. They logged a convincing 96-77 win over Bowling Green at home on Jan. 21 and lost, 83-76, to the Zips at home on Friday.
Akron (12-4, 10-3) goes into the week second in the MAC, a half-game behind Toledo. Kent State (12-5, 9-4) is third. Bowling Green (11-9, 7-7) is sixth. Miami is tied with Ball State 7-9, 5-06) for seventh in the 12-team MAC, but the RedHawks own the tiebreaker advantage for conference tournament-seeding over the Cardinals with an 81-71 win on Jan. 19.
Unlike previous seasons, when all 12 teams qualified for the tournament with the lowest eight seeds playing first-round games at the homes of seeds 5 through 8, the conference’s top eight teams qualify for the postseason tournament March 10-13 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Arena.
Owens was trying to keep his team focused.
“This week, with Toledo and NIU both on the road, we’ve just got to be ready to go,” Owens said. “We’ve got to find ways to close games. We know Toledo is a going to be a challenging game, and we’re excited for the opportunity.”
Owens’s immediate concern was figuring out how to control Toledo junior forward J.T. Shumate, who went 11-for-11 from the field, including 5-for-5 on 3-point shots, and 6-of-7 on free throws while scoring 33 points during Toledo’s win on January 26. The Rockets go into the week ranked second in the MAC with an average of 80.5 points per game and first with a 37.6 3-point shooting percentage, just ahead of second-ranked Miami’s 36.0 percentage.
At the same time, he had to be concerned with nursing his team through the stretch drive.
“We’re taking one game at a time,” he said. “It’s February. We’re mindful of what we’re doing in practice and of what we’re doing with guys’ legs. We’re mindful of how the games are being played, and we’re doing things in practice to keep guys fresh, physically and mentally. You have to be ready to play. We’re embracing the opportunity to play at a high level.”
TODAY’S GAME
Miami at Toledo, 7 p.m., ESPN3, 910, 1450
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