03/12/26 12:32:00
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03/12 12:30 CDT No. 20 Miami (Ohio) drops MAC opener, the first loss for D-I's
last undefeated men's team
No. 20 Miami (Ohio) drops MAC opener, the first loss for D-I's last undefeated
men's team
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) --- No. 20 Miami (Ohio) dropped its Mid-American Conference
Tournament opener to UMass 87-83 on Thursday, spoiling the last perfect record
in Division I men's basketball.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford made a tiebreaking layup with 29 seconds remaining, and
the Minutemen escaped with victory in a quarterfinal game that had 12 lead
changes and 10 ties.
The RedHawks (31-1) were the fifth men's Division I program this century to go
undefeated during the regular season. Now it's the second to get tripped up in
its conference tournament. St. Joseph's lost to Xavier in the 2004 Atlantic 10
quarterfinals but was still a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Miami was the first squad since Gonzaga in 2020-21 to not have a loss going
into a conference tournament.
The RedHawks had eight one-possession games during the regular season,
including their last three coming into the MAC Tournament.
There were some doubts about the RedHawks earning an at-large berth. Those
quieted after a win over Ohio last Friday but might perk up again after this.
After Hankins-Sanford's layup, Miami's Luke Skaljac made a bad pass and turned
the ball over to Marcus Banks, who made two free throws to make it a
two-possession game.
Brant Byers was fouled on a 3-point attempt but made only two of three free
throws. Banks iced the game with another pair of free throws with 8 seconds
left.
Leonardo Bettiol led UMass (17-15) with 25 points while Banks added 18 and
Jayden Ndjigue 16.
Byers led Miami with 17 points, and Eian Elmer added 16.
Miami had a 69-58 lead with 8:11 remaining before UMass rallied back with a
13-2 run. Ndjigue had six points, including a 3-pointer to tie it at 71.
Up next
UMass faces either Bowling Green or Toledo in Friday's conference tournament
semifinals.
Miami (Ohio) awaits its postseason fate.
___
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