The Sports Network

DATE & TIME: Friday, March 4th, 7:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Millett Hall (6,400) -- Oxford, Ohio. Television: None. Home Record: Ohio 10-8, Miami-OH 11-4. Away Record: Ohio 6-4, Miami-OH 4-11. Neutral Record: Ohio 1-1, Miami-OH 0-0. Conference Record: Ohio 9-6, Miami-OH 10-5. Series Record: Ohio University leads, 97-90.

GAME NOTES: Two of the better teams in the Mid-American Conference will close out the regular season in Oxford tonight, as the Miami-Ohio RedHawks play host to the Ohio University Bobcats.

Ohio carries a five-game win streak into this tilt, and the recent run of success has enabled the Bobcats to move to 17-13 overall and 9-6 in MAC action. Tuesday's performance was extremely impressive, as OU cruised to an 80-55 victory over Akron.

As for Miami-Ohio, it suffered a disappointing loss to Buffalo on Wednesday by a 59-49 final. That defeat dropped the RedHawks to 15-15 overall, and they are now a game back of Kent State for first place in the East Division. The Golden Flashes play Akron tonight, and Miami fans will obviously be keeping an eye on that affair.

Back in early January, Miami won an epic triple-overtime game over Ohio by a 92-88 final, but the Bobcats still own a 97-90 lead in the series.

Through 30 games, Ohio is generating 75.1 ppg while limiting opponents to 73.1 ppg. D.J. Cooper leads the Bobcats with 16.5 ppg, and he has handed out an impressive total of 226 assists to go along with 70 steals. Cooper is also pulling down 5.1 rpg, and his offensive output would be even better if not for 39.6 percent shooting from the floor. De Washington checks in with 12.7 ppg, and Tommy Freeman provides 11.2 ppg. The fourth and final double-digit scorer on the roster is Ivo Baltic with 10.9 ppg. Cooper was tremendous in the blowout victory over Akron on Tuesday, as he poured in 25 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds. Baltic tallied 17 points in that affair, and Washington scored 11 points. The Bobcats shot 51.8 percent from the field in that affair and earned a 40-21 rebounding advantage.

Heading into Wednesday's meeting with Buffalo, Miami-Ohio knew it would take a solid effort from Julian Mavunga and Nick Winbush to win the game on the road. Mavunga was averaging 14.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg prior to that contest, while Winbush came in sporting 12.7 ppg and 6.9 rpg. Against the Bulls, Winbush came through with 14 points and 11 boards, while teammate Orlando Williams contributed 14 points as well. Mavunga ripped down 10 rebounds in that affair, but he scored a mere six points on 3-of-14 shooting from the floor. The RedHawks only scored four points from the foul line in the tilt, and they managed just one field goal over the final 9:51 of the contest after closing to within one point of the Bulls midway through the second stanza.

Give a narrow edge to Miami-Ohio based solely on the homecourt advantage tonight. This game will likely go down to the wire.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Miami-Ohio 70, Ohio University 68

03/04 10:32:58 ET