Miami (Ohio) defeated SMU in the First Four of the NCAA tournament. The RedHawks, an 11th seed, beat SMU 89-79 at UD Arena.
RedHawks Dominate Against SMU
Miami (Ohio) led for most of the game. They recorded their largest victory margin and made their most 3-pointers (16) in an NCAA tournament game. They also posted their highest scoring total in a tournament contest since 1958.
Coach Travis Steele believed his team was better than SMU coming into the game, and his players proved him right. Guard Peter Suder addressed the doubters, highlighting the team’s double-digit win against a talented opponent.
Miami’s Tournament Path
Miami made the NCAA field as an at-large team. They tipped off in the First Four, 40 miles from their campus in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks were a 6.5-point underdog against SMU, even though neither they nor their supporters felt that way.
Miami did not face a power conference team in nonleague play. The school stated that those schools did not want to schedule the RedHawks. Miami went 31-0 in the regular season before falling to UMass in the Mid-American Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Coach Steele said they had to basically be perfect in the whole regular season to get that at-large.
Fan Support and Atmosphere
The crowd was overwhelmingly in favour of Miami. SMU coach Andy Enfield acknowledged the strong home support for Miami, estimating they had 12,000 fans present.
Former Miami and NBA star Ron Harper was among the supporters and celebrated in the locker room.
Miami players frequently acknowledged their supporters, including Luke Skaljac, whose 3-pointer with 7:15 left forced SMU to call timeout.
Looking Ahead
Miami will advance to face No. 6 seed Tennessee in a first-round Midwest Region matchup Friday in Philadelphia.