Trailing for much of the game, No. 24 Miami (Ohio) rallied behind Eian Elmer’s 30 points to remain one of two Division I unbeaten teams with an 86-84 win over Massachusetts on Tuesday night before a raucous home crowd in Oxford, Ohio.
The RedHawks (21-0, 9-0 Mid-American Conference), pressed to overtime in their last two wins, had to play from behind for most of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half against the Minutemen. But unlike wins over Buffalo and at Kent State, Miami didn’t have to rally in the final two minutes. Instead, the RedHawks had to hold off UMass (13-9, 4-6).
Leonardo Bettiol led UMass with 22 points while Marcus Banks finished with 18 for the Minutemen before he fouled out with 1:25 remaining. K’Jei Parker had a chance to give UMass the lead with 26 seconds remaining, but his 3-pointer was short.
Elmer grabbed the rebound and then converted a pair of free throws to push the Miami lead to 85-81. Parker was fouled taking a three and made all three free throws to cut the deficit to one with 8 seconds left.
Peter Suder converted one of two free throws with 4 seconds left, and Isaiah Placide’s half-court heave fell short at the final buzzer.
The RedHawks played their ninth game without starting point guard Evan Ipsaro. They also were without starting guard Luke Skaljac (illness) on Tuesday. Skaljac hit a running bank shot seven days earlier to force overtime at Kent State, a game Miami won 107-101 in overtime.
Suder and Justin Kirby and Suder each had 13 for Miami, which was playing its first home game at Millett Hall as a nationally ranked team, and its first home game on its Oxford campus as a ranked team since playing Xavier as the No. 12 team in the country on Feb. 25, 1953.
A crowd of 9,223 turned out at Millett Hall, which opened in December 1968. Miami entered with a school-record 26-game home winning streak.
UMass raced out to a 22-13 lead thanks to the Banks’ sharpshooting. The guard connected on 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, and went 4 of 5 from the field in the opening 20 minutes. His team-leading 13 first-half points helped the Minutemen build a 10-point lead at 45-35 with 2:18 left in the half.
UMass maintained control of the game thanks to its work on the glass, out-rebounding Miami 20-12 in the first half. But Miami recovered just before halftime, going on an 8-2 run to cut UMass lead to 47-43 at the break. Elmer kept the RedHawks close, draining 5 of 7 from 3-point range and going 6 of 8 from the field on his way to an 18-point first half.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford drained a three from the right wing with 11:45 left in the second half to put UMass up five, 63-58.
Miami drew even at 65 on a pair of Suder free throws with 9:26 left. After a UMass response, Elmer drilled a left wing three with 8:40 remaining to give Miami its first lead since 2-0.
Banks drained a turnaround with 4:36 left to give UMass its last lead at 76-74.
Antwone Woolfork finished off a three-point play with 4:19 left to put Miami up for good, 77-75.
