GAME NOTES: The Miami-Ohio RedHawks fly into Kentucky this afternoon to do battle with the 12th-ranked Louisville Cardinals in a non-conference affair. Since opening the season with back-to-back wins, Miami-Ohio has lost two of its last three games. The club was most recently in action on Wednesday when it dropped a heart-breaking 63-62 decision to Dayton in front of the home crowd. The other loss came against USC by only four points, so the team could easily be 5-0 at this point. It should be pointed out that Miami beat Xavier, the only team to do so thus far, and the Musketeers appear to be on their way to a strong campaign after a recent victory over national powerhouse Indiana. Louisville opened the season with three straight victories, and after a two- point loss to BYU, the team got back to its winning ways with a 64-53 decision over Old Dominion last Saturday. The Cardinals have been idle for a full week, and they hope to score their third blowout victory at home in as many tries. Louisville owns a 2-0 lead in the all-time series with Miami-Ohio, and the teams haven't met since 1985.

Michael Bramos has been nothing short of outstanding for Miami-Ohio thus far, a the 6-5 junior guard is scoring 24.2 ppg on the strength of his 52 percent shooting from the floor, including 45.5 percent accuracy from three-point range. Tim Pollitz has proven to be a strong second scoring option for the RedHawks, as the versatile performer contributes 17.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 4.0 apg to the mix. Unfortunately, those two players get little help at the offensive end, as they are responsible for more than two-thirds of the team's entire offensive output. Miami is scoring a modest 61.0 ppg, but the squad has been able to limit foes to 59.2 ppg. Bramos poured in 36 points on the strength of nine three-pointers against Dayton, and that output marked the most points scored by a RedHawk since 1999. Pollitz added 13 points for Miami, but the rest of the team combined for only 13 points in the narrow defeat.

Louisville has been strong at both ends of the court thus far, as the team is scoring 79.2 ppg on 48.4 percent shooting from the floor, including 39.3 percent efficiency from three-point range, while limiting the opposition to 60.2 ppg on 34.6 percent shooting. Earl Clark is posting 14.8 ppg on 51.9 percent shooting from the floor, and he is pulling down 12.0 rpg. Derrick Caracter checks in with 13.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg, and Terrence Williams is contributing 11.6 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Williams is also tops with 5.6 apg and 10 steals, proof of his tremendous versatility. The fourth and final double-digit scorer on the roster is Jerry Smith with 11.4 ppg. Williams scored 20 points in the victory over Old Dominion last weekend, and Clark scored 11 points to go along with his 15 rebounds. The Cardinals limited the Monarchs to 33.9 percent shooting from the floor, key to the win.

Miami-Ohio is a dangerous team, and it has the ability to knock off Louisville. Don't expect that to happen, however, as the Cardinals are much more athletic than the RedHawks.