GAME NOTES: The Miami-Ohio RedHawks will kick off their season Sunday as they play host to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in a non-conference clash at Millett Hall.

Southern Utah, of the Big Sky Conference, suffered through a dismal two-win season in 2013-14, and opened the new campaign with a loss at the hands of Kansas State on Friday, 98-68. The Thunderbirds hung tough with the Wildcats for a few minutes, but then quickly fell behind when foul trouble plagued star shooter A.J. Hess.

Miami-Ohio recovered a bit from an absolutely horrific 2012-13 season to finish 13-18 last year overall, with an 8-10 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The RedHawks, although plagued by inconsistency last season, managed to win their first-round MAC Tournament contest, and will look to make it back once again to the postseason.

This meeting between the Thunderbirds and RedHawks will be the very first in the series. This season is the 110th in Miami basketball history.

To characterize the 2013-14 basketball season for Southern Utah as a disappointment would be the understatement of the century. The Thunderbirds struggled through a two-win campaign, but are looking to turn their fortunes around for the brand new 2014-15 season. It didn't start out that well Friday night, however, as SUU was demoralized by Kansas State on the road. The Thunderbirds return all five starters from last season, but that didn't help then, and it didn't help Friday against the Big 12 Conference program.

Hess was the only player for Southern Utah to net a double-digit point total. He finished the game with 16 points before fouling out later in the contest. The 16-point feat is a lot less impressive when considering Hess buried four of his first six 3-point shots for 12 early points, but was forced from the game following two early fouls. Christian Thompson came off the bench to score nine points, and Race Parsons had an SUU-high five rebounds. The team's defense allowed Kansas State to shoot 58.7 percent from the floor in the game.

The RedHawks endured an offseason in which they lost top scorer Will Felder (14.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and said goodbye to starting point guard Quinten Rollins (6.9 ppg, 122 assists). But the three other top scorers return to the lineup, including playmaker Geovonie McKnight (9.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 71 assists), who should be the go-to guy this season in Cooper's system. Willie Moore (9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Will Sullivan (9.0 ppg, 40.8 percent shooting touch from 3- point range) are the other two that will be big names in the Miami offense.

The RedHawks also landed a talented freshman guard in Zach McCormick, from Cincinnati, who should figure into the equation. The uncertainty here lies with the forward positions. Coach John Cooper is hoping the handful of junior college transfers his program landed will help out quickly, but it's a risk. Miami was dropped in an exhibition contest by Edinboro, 71-60, behind just one double-digit scorer. Eric Washington netted 16 points for the RedHawks in the loss, and dished out a team-high five assists. LJ Livingston came off the bench to net eight points with a team-best eight rebounds.

This is the perfect way for Miami-Ohio to open up the regular season - against a team that was easily one of the worst in all of college basketball last season and a not-so-different look in this campaign. The RedHawks can use this contest as a way to get comfortable and start to get into a rhythm going forward.