UMass ruins No. 20 Miami (Ohio)’s perfect season, stuns RedHawks in quarterfinals of MAC tournament
Jayden Ndigue piled up 16 points and eight rebounds in UMass’ MAC tournament quarterfinal victory over No. 20 Miami (Ohio). (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Miami (Ohio) dipped, ducked and dodged losses throughout a perfect regular season that fittingly culminated in the program sweating out an overtime road victory against rival Ohio last Saturday.
They may be the RedHawks, but they’ve felt like some kind of cat with nine lives. The college basketball world has become accustomed to their comebacks.
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So much so that it was shocking Thursday when another didn’t arrive in the final minutes of a MAC tournament quarterfinal matchup with UMass in which No. 20 Miami opened as a 6.5-point favorite.
After going 31-0 in the regular season, including 18-0 in MAC play, head coach Travis Steele’s top-seeded RedHawks (31-1, 18-0 MAC) were handed a stunning 87-83 loss by the eighth-seeded Minutemen (17-15, 7-11) in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
Suddenly, the auto bid is no longer Miami’s to ride to the NCAA tournament. Cue the debate about whether the RedHawks — who are outside the top 70 in adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency, per KenPom, but remain top 40 in the “Wins Above Bubble” metric, according to BartTorvik — deserve to make the dance as an at-large team.
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And if they earn a spot in the 68-team field, how far can they go? Even the oddsmakers are showing their doubt already. Despite its gaudy record, Miami has 1,000-1 odds to win the NCAA tournament, according to BetMGM.
Of course, winning the whole thing would be a fairy tale for a Miami program that hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2007. But the point is that the RedHawks now have a few anxious days ahead of them as they await their fate, which could very well involve them heading to Dayton for the First Four.
So how did this happen?
Miami struggled mightily on the defensive glass against Frank Martin’s UMass squad. The Minutemen stacked 17 offensive rebounds and cashed in for 23 second-chance points.
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Those came in bunches down the stretch of a game that featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties, and they exemplified UMass’ resilience.
After all, the Minutemen were down 69-58 with a bit more than eight minutes remaining. They roared back, with Jayden Ndjigue collecting a missed 3-pointer, dropping in a second-chance bucket and knotting things up 71-71.
Ndjigue, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, followed that up with another basket of that ilk, only that time he cleaned up his own miss and followed a much-needed 3 from Miami’s Almar Atlason.
An additional RedHawks triple from Luke Skaljac tied the game 79-79 with 3:03 to go, but UMass big man Luka Damjanac then chipped in two huge bench points, also of the second-chance variety.
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MAC Player of the Year Peter Sudar evened the back-and-forth affair 81-81 with a jumper in the final minute. But a layup from Minuteman forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford and a head-scratching Skaljac turnover on the ensuing RedHawks possession did Miami in.
Down by four, Miami’s Brant Byers drew a foul from beyond the arc, except he made just 2-of-3 free throws. UMass iced the game at the line and tainted the RedHawks’ previously undefeated campaign.
While the Minutemen received a bevy of contributions from their supporting cast, they were powered by Leonardo Bettiol’s 25 points and Marcus Banks Jr.’s 18 points.
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Meanwhile, Miami, the first team to post an undefeated regular-season record since 2020-21 Gonzaga, now finds itself in an unwanted NCAA tournament conversation.
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