After surviving a major scare on the road, unbeaten No. 19 Miami (Ohio) returns home to battle Mid-American Conference rival Toledo on Tuesday night in Oxford, Ohio.
Miami (29-0, 16-0 MAC) needed a last-second layup from backup point guard Trey Perry to fend off 10-win Western Michigan 69-67 on the road Friday night to remain as the only undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball. The RedHawks have regular-season games remaining against Toledo and at Ohio on Friday.
Winner of three straight, Toledo (16-13, 10-6) will be looking to avenge an 87-73 home loss to Miami on Jan. 9.
Already without starting point guard Evan Ipsaro due to a torn ACL in late December, the RedHawks played Friday’s game without the services of assists leader Luke Skaljac (4.8 per game) due to a wrist injury.
Perry, a true freshman, made his first career start Friday with Skaljac out of the lineup. Miami head coach Travis Steele indicated after Friday’s game that the injury to Skaljac was minor, and he was hopeful the point guard would return Tuesday against Toledo.
Steele will be focusing on keeping his cool Tuesday after losing it heading into halftime facing a four-point deficit at Western Michigan. He berated officials and then was called for a technical on the way to the locker room. Steele stormed off the court and knocked over a DJ stand in the hallway.
Miami erased a nine-point deficit with under seven minutes remaining to keep its historic run alive.
“I got to be better at halftime from being honest, like I can’t lose my mind,” Steele said after the game. “I got a technical foul walking off the court; I got to be better. But our group is unflappable. It’s calm, cool, collected. It’s very, very even, the entire time, even during tight moments.
“You hear our guys voices in the huddles. Player-led teams are way better than coach-led teams, so just our guys’ ability to execute, our guys have a lot of confidence in those moments.”
Peter Suder, the RedHawks’ leading scorer (14.7 ppg), led the way with 18, Almar Atlason added 16 and Perry had 14 in the dramatic win.
Already with a school-record 29 wins, Miami is just the fourth Division I team since 2000 to enter March undefeated, joining Wichita State (2013-14), Kentucky (2014-15) and Gonzaga (2020-21), per ESPN.
The Rockets are coming off a 79-67 win over Ohio on Saturday, as Leroy Blyden Jr. scored a game-high 22 points and Sonny Wilson added 21 to record their third straight win.
Toledo built a 65-55 second-half lead but had to hold off Ohio, which closed within 67-61 with 4:08 remaining. But Blyden had a tip-in, Austin Parks powered in a dunk and Wilson added a pair of free throws for a 73-61 lead with 2:20 remaining to allow Toledo to hang on.
“It was a gutty win for us, and we just keep getting better,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “We played really well in the first half and could have had a bigger lead if we had finished around the basket. Our guards came up with some big plays down the stretch when we needed them to. That’s what you need to win games on the road late in the season.”
–Field Level Media
