MAC Basketball: Miami Is Tops, Despite Tired (Possibly Mechanical) Legs

PREVIOUS TRUE STATEMENT: Kent State is the best team.

NEW TRUE STATEMENT: Kent State is the best team, but Miami is in first place by one-half a game.

ALSO POTENTIALLY TRUE STATEMENT: Miami basketball players are using prosthetic, cybernetic legs during games.

You heard 'em. With Miami's 86-80 squeaker win at home to the Golden Flashes, there goes your balance of power for the 1-seed, as Miami jumps to 9-3, while Kent State slips to 8-3. But even though the final stretch of the season favors the Kent Staters, you saw this story unfold during football, and we could be headed down that road again.

Heart, hustle, and free throws were the key reasons for the Miami comeback, but let's also peer right at Justin Greene's numbers: just seven points in 36 minutes on 13 shots. A pure off-night for their inside man, and I don't even know how the guards carried the team so far to begin with; 71 of the 80 points were via the backcourt. That includes 25 from Rodriquez Sherman (who also sank the game-tying 3 with mere seconds left in regulation) and 24 from Carlton Guyton off the bench. A couple of gutty men almost pulled out this victory.

But, yet again with depleted ranks, MU leaned mostly on five guys to play the bulk of the game. Chris McHenry sustained nagging injuries and logged only seven minutes. Drew McGhee played the part of "guy who stood in place of Julian Mavunga," and needed to since Mavunga somehow managed to pick up three first-half fouls. Jon Harris poked his head in the game to say hi. These three played a combined 21 minutes; the rest belonged to Mavunga, Nick WInbush, Allen Roberts, Orlando Williams, and super-sub Josh Sewell, who averaged 40.8 minutes apiece.

These are all insane incantations that affect this team, but the insanity peaks at their stature: first place in the MAC. For now. I vaguely remember this storyline during football season. It was the hardest damn thing to fathom all season, and as a blogger I was remotely happy to see it conclude because I had assumed, there's no way the basketball season will make less sense.

So here we are — and it's even the same team! — with the RedHawks are trudging through conference play with heavy minutes on five people. Although I will admit, I am interested in procuring a set of the mechanical legs. Do they come in different sizes or do they require a custom fit?