{"id":24484,"date":"2026-03-20T21:19:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24484"},"modified":"2026-03-20T21:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T21:19:28","slug":"miami-ohio-downs-smu-in-first-four-deserve-to-be-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24484","title":{"rendered":"Miami (Ohio) downs SMU in First Four: &#8216;Deserve&#8217; to be here"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"byline-wrap\">\n<ul class=\"authors byline-authors\">\n<li class=\"single-author mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Adam Rittenberg<span class=\"timestamp \">Mar 19, 2026, 12:13 AM ET<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\"><a class=\"icon-font-after icon-close-solid-after\" href=\"#\">Close<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Multiple Authors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>DAYTON, Ohio &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/team\/_\/id\/193\/miami-oh-redhawks\">Miami (Ohio)<\/a> found itself in a unique position Wednesday night at the First Four.<\/p>\n<p>The RedHawks had been a polarizing 30-win team in the lead-up to NCAA tournament selections. Was Miami good or just a product of a weak schedule? Were all the major conference teams that avoided the RedHawks being silly or smart?<\/p>\n<p>After a 31-1 start, Miami made the NCAA field, but just barely as an at-large, and would tip off in the First Four, 40 miles from its campus in Oxford, Ohio. The 11th-seeded RedHawks were a 6.5-point underdog against <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"b9223bd5-75fe-cf58-a97e-2ba6511c9738\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/team\/_\/id\/2567\/smu-mustangs\">SMU<\/a>, even though neither they nor the thousands who came to support them felt that way.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The reason people love March Madness is they love to see quote, unquote, upsets,&#8221; coach Travis Steele said. &#8220;This wasn&#8217;t an upset tonight, at all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Picks<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Miami left no doubt about its tournament viability or the historic path it has taken, beating SMU <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/game\/_\/gameId\/401856436\/miami-oh-smu\">89-79<\/a> at UD Arena. The RedHawks led for most of the game, recorded their largest victory margin and made their most 3-pointers (16) in an NCAA tournament game, and posted their highest scoring total in a tournament contest since 1958. They advanced to face No. 6 seed <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"ed14cdb0-026d-4f97-ca21-00efacb8b19b\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/team\/_\/id\/2633\/tennessee-volunteers\">Tennessee<\/a> in a first-round Midwest Region matchup Friday in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<p>Steele said he believed his team was better than SMU coming into Wednesday&#8217;s game, and his players proved him right.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All the doubters that doubted us, all saying we don&#8217;t have Quad 1 wins, two wins, all that stuff, I don&#8217;t know what they&#8217;re going to say now,&#8221; star guard <a data-player-guid=\"923262bf-a3a0-3f99-b08a-0b899f8821d2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5106674\/peter-suder\">Peter Suder<\/a> said. &#8220;We proved the doubters wrong. To win by double digits against a really good team, athletically, physically talented players, it&#8217;s huge for this program.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Miami did not face a power conference team in nonleague play &#8212; the school repeatedly stated that those schools did not want to schedule the RedHawks &#8212; and went 31-0 in the regular season before falling to <a data-clubhouse-guid=\"811c0834-1efb-c980-4337-270532946fa2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/team\/_\/id\/113\/massachusetts-minutemen\">UMass<\/a> in the Mid-American Conference tournament quarterfinals. Despite all of Miami&#8217;s winning, a schedule strength that hovered near the bottom of Division I created an odd at-large profile for the tournament selection committee to consider.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I mean, we had to basically be perfect in the whole regular season to get that at-large,&#8221; Steele said.<\/p>\n<p>A MAC team had not earned an at-large berth since 1999, when Miami rode All-American Wally Szczerbiak to the Sweet 16. The RedHawks were one of the last at-large teams in and began their first tournament appearance since 2007 in nearby Dayton.<\/p>\n<p>The positive was Wednesday&#8217;s crowd, red and raucous, erupting with every 3-pointer and scoring burst from the RedHawks. Former Miami and NBA star Ron Harper was among the supporters and celebrated in the locker room.<\/p>\n<p>Miami players frequently acknowledged their supporters, including <a data-player-guid=\"0b8fc7ce-cc0e-3159-a9b0-f446b6cdb6fe\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5101653\/luke-skaljac\">Luke Skaljac<\/a>, whose 3-pointer with 7:15 left forced SMU to call timeout.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That was a great crowd, a home game for Miami,&#8221; SMU coach Andy Enfield said. &#8220;They probably had 12,000 fans here. Felt like 40 or 50,000.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The crowd included Miami&#8217;s men&#8217;s swimming and diving team, some wearing only Speedos and caps, who sprinted down the aisle behind SMU&#8217;s basket early in the second half to distract free throw shooter <a data-player-guid=\"1c1525e3-b826-3bc4-b406-6ae27a86f4f8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5110039\/corey-washington\">Corey Washington<\/a>, just as they do at Millett Hall, Miami&#8217;s home court.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What really surprised me was the swim team, when they came out,&#8221; Miami forward <a data-player-guid=\"79444e3d-aa59-39b3-a9a4-b2e674459287\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5105859\/antwone-woolfolk\">Antwone Woolfolk<\/a> said. &#8220;That was elite.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Miami&#8217;s willingness to take and make 3-pointers propelled its offense, as the team had more made 3s (10) than 2-point attempts (9) in the first half. But the undersized RedHawks also held up inside, as the rebounding was even at 35. They collected 12 offensive boards, including Suder&#8217;s with 3:08 to play that set up a 3-pointer by <a data-player-guid=\"57135136-c9e7-3683-aa15-9c23e1e3894a\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/player\/_\/id\/5093252\/eian-elmer\">Eian Elmer<\/a> that increased the lead to 81-68.<\/p>\n<p>Steele challenged his team after the UMass loss, as the RedHawks were outrebounded 41-24 and allowed 54 points in the paint and 23 second-chance points.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We crashed the glass,&#8221; said Woolfolk, Miami&#8217;s tallest starter at 6-foot-9. &#8220;We put pressure on the rim, instead of letting pressure get put on us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The rebounding performance reinforced Steele&#8217;s pregame theme: attack.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our guys deserve to be in this position,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I felt like we were the better team going into the game. And I think our guys have that real belief. That&#8217;s the most powerful thing you can have.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Miami now gets another power conference opponent in Tennessee, and further success means similar opponents will follow. But the RedHawks had the tournament stage Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<p>How many more people know about Miami (Ohio) now?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t even know. I can&#8217;t even count,&#8221; Suder said, smiling. &#8220;But it&#8217;s definitely a lot.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mens-college-basketball\/story\/_\/id\/48246028\/miami-ohio-beats-smu-first-ncaa-tournament-win-1999\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adam RittenbergMar 19, 2026, 12:13 AM ET Close College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University. Multiple Authors DAYTON, Ohio &#8212; Miami (Ohio) found itself in a unique position Wednesday night at the First Four. The RedHawks had been a polarizing 30-win team in the lead-up to NCAA tournament selections. Was Miami &#8230; <a title=\"Miami (Ohio) downs SMU in First Four: &#8216;Deserve&#8217; to be here\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24484\" aria-label=\"Read more about Miami (Ohio) downs SMU in First Four: &#8216;Deserve&#8217; to be here\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Miami-Ohio-downs-SMU-in-First-Four-Deserve-to-be.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24486,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24484\/revisions\/24486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}