NCAA BASKETBALL: Miami (Ohio) shakes off lone loss, tops SMU in First Four

DAYTON, Ohio — Eian Elmer scored 23 points and Brant Byers added 19 as Miami (Ohio) rode a 3-point surge to an 89-79 victory over SMU in the NCAA Tournament First Four on Wednesday night.

Luke Skaljac contributed 17 points, while Almar Atlason added 12 as Miami (32-1) bounced back from its only loss of the season—a setback against UMass in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals—to claim its first NCAA Tournament win since 1999. The RedHawks finished 16 of 41 (39%) from beyond the arc.

With the win, Miami advances as the No. 11 seed to face No. 6 seed Tennessee in a Midwest Region first-round game on Friday in Philadelphia.

“The message I gave our guys before the game was they should leave no doubt who the more attacking team was, and I thought that was very evident from the jump ball all the way to the end of the game,” Miami coach Travis Steele said. “Very proud of our guys, but obviously there’s a lot to be done yet.”

The RedHawks enjoyed strong support from a heavily partisan crowd inside University of Dayton Arena, just 40 miles east of Miami’s Oxford, Ohio, campus. Last year, Xavier similarly leveraged its local fan base to rally past Texas in a First Four game.

“Really appreciated all the Miami fans showing out,” Steele added. “In a lot of ways, it was a home game for us. It’s such a unique opportunity to come watch an NCAA Tournament game. We’re only 50 minutes away from campus, so very, very appreciative of that.”

For SMU (20-14), Jaden Toombs had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaron Pierre Jr. added 18. The Mustangs, playing without guard B.J. Edwards—the ACC leader in steals—struggled to contain Miami’s perimeter shooting. Edwards, who averages 12.7 points per game, tested his injured ankle but could not play. SMU went 1-5 without him in the lineup.

“We had a really good year at SMU, made March Madness for the first time in nine years at the school,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said. “We won 20 games and competed at the highest level. Basically, B.J. is not up here—he had a serious injury and tried to get back. But overall, just a terrific season. Tonight didn’t go our way. Miami played an outstanding basketball game. We had our chances.”

Miami led 43-34 at halftime after converting 10 of 25 3-point attempts. In the second half, a 13-0 run helped Miami pull away after SMU briefly took a 49-48 lead on a dunk by Corey Washington. SMU later cut the deficit to seven on a 7-0 run, but Elmer’s timely 3-pointers, including two within a minute, sealed the victory.

SMU’s Boopie Miller scored eight points in the first half, surpassing the 2,000-point career milestone. He finished with 15 points, bringing his career total to 2,011.

—Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media/Reuters