Miami (Ohio) downs SMU in First Four: ‘Deserve’ to be here

DAYTON, Ohio — Miami (Ohio) found itself in a unique position Wednesday night in the First Four.

The RedHawks had been a polarizing team with 30 wins heading into the NCAA Tournament. Was Miami good, or just the product of a weak schedule? Were all the major conference teams that avoided the RedHawks stupid or smart? After a 31-1 start, Miami made the NCAA field, but barely as an at-large, and would find itself in the First Four, just 40 miles from its campus in Oxford, Ohio.

The 11th-seeded RedHawks were 6.5-point underdogs against SMU, although neither they nor the thousands who came to support them felt that way.

“The reason people love March Madness is they love to see, quote unquote, upsets,” coach Travis Steele said. “It wasn’t a surprise at all tonight.”

Miami left no doubt about the viability of its tournament or the historic path it took, beating SMU 89-79 at UD Arena. The RedHawks led for most of the game, recorded their largest margin of victory and made the most three-pointers (16) in an NCAA tournament game and posted their highest goal total in a tournament since 1958. They advanced to face No. 6 seed Tennessee in a Midwest Region first-round game Friday in Philadelphia.

Steele said he thought his team was better than SMU heading into Wednesday’s game, and his players proved him right.

“All the doubters who doubted us, all saying we didn’t have any Quad 1 wins, two wins, all that stuff, I don’t know what they’re going to say now,” star guard Peter Suder said. “We proved the doubters wrong. To win by double digits against a very good team, made up of athletically and physically talented players, is huge for this program.”

Miami has not played a Power Conference team outside the league — the school has repeatedly said those schools don’t want to schedule the RedHawks — and went 31-0 in the regular season before losing to UMass last week in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament. For all of Miami’s wins, a strength of schedule that hovered near the bottom of Division I created an odd overall profile for the tournament selection committee to consider.

“I mean, we had to be perfect throughout the regular season to get this as a whole,” Steele said.

A MAC team hadn’t earned an at-large berth since 1999, when Miami took All-American Wally Szczerbiak to the Sweet 16. The RedHawks were one of the last at-large teams and began their first tournament appearance since 2007 in nearby Dayton.

The bright spot was Wednesday’s crowd, red and loud, erupting with every three-point shot and scoring outburst by the RedHawks. Former Miami and NBA star Ron Harper was among the fans and celebrated in the locker room.

Miami players frequently acknowledged their fans, including Luke Skaljac, whose 3-point basket with 7:15 left forced SMU to call a timeout.

“It was a great crowd, a home game for Miami,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said. “They probably had 12,000 fans here. It was like 40 or 50,000.”

The crowd included the Miami men’s swimming and diving team, some wearing only Speedos and caps, who sprinted down the aisle behind the SMU basket early in the second half to distract free-throw shooter Corey Washington, just as they do at Millett Hall, Miami’s home court.

“What really surprised me was the swim team, when they came out,” forward Antwone Woolfolk said. “They were elite.”

Miami’s willingness to take and make 3-pointers propelled its offense, as the team made more 3-point attempts (10) than 2-pointers (9) in the first half. But the undersized RedHawks held their own inside as well, as the rebound was tied at 35. They collected 12 offensive rebounds, including Suder’s with 3:08 left, which set up Eian Elmer’s 3-pointer and increased the lead to 81-68.

Steele challenged his team after the UMass loss, as the RedHawks were overwhelmed 41-24 and allowed 54 points in the paint and 23 second-chance points.

“We broke the glass,” said Woolfolk, Miami’s tallest starter at 6-foot-9. “We put pressure on the rim, instead of letting the pressure get on us.”

The bounce-back performance reinforced Steele’s pregame theme: offense.

“Our guys deserve to be in this position,” he said. “I felt like we were the better team going into the game. And I think our guys have that real belief. That’s the most powerful thing you can have.”

Miami now has another power conference opponent in Tennessee, and additional success means similar opponents will follow. But the RedHawks had the tournament stage Wednesday night.

How many more people know about Miami, Ohio now?

“I don’t even know, I don’t even know how to count,” Suder said, smiling. “But it’s definitely a lot.”