This story originally appeared on MiamiRedHawks.com.

DAYTON, Ohio — Every time it didn't seem like the building could get louder, it did.

Every time Miami hit a big shot, somehow the RedHawks followed it up with an even bigger one.

Every time SMU made a run, the Red and White had an answer.

And every time Eian Elmer buried a three-pointer, he had the same reaction.

Elmer, who received a personal greeting from wrestling legend John Cena this week as part of CBS Sports and TNT Sports' March Madness Confidential series, made six triples in all Wednesday en route to 23 points (in just 24 minutes of action!) That meant he had quite a few opportunities to show off his Cena-inspired celebration (including in a postgame interview with sideline reporter Jenny Dell).

And it wasn't just Elmer. There was an awful lot of celebrating happening Wednesday night at UD Arena, from the court to the bench to the top row of the stands, as the 11th-seeded RedHawks took down SMU 89-79 for the program's first NCAA Tournament win since 1999.

The crowd was an obvious storyline. Miami was wearing its red road jerseys, but in every other way, the Red and White felt right at home. To call the 12,558 fans in attendance a pro-Miami crowd is like saying water is a little wet or the Empire State Building is a bit tall.

"It was electric," head coach Travis Steele said. "It was the best NCAA environment I've ever been a part of."

"One of the best crowds I've played in front of," Peter Suder agreed. "We had a lot of sold-out crowds this year, but I think that's one of the loudest gyms I've been in…they were the sixth man off the court for us."

And then there was the offense.

Three RedHawks scored in double figures in the first half alone as Miami knocked down 10 threes before intermission, including Luke Skaljac getting Miami on the board early, a personal 11-0 run for Elmer near the midway point, and nine points in the space of a minute for Brant Byers late in the period.

When the final buzzer sounded, Miami had buried a First Four-record 16 three-pointers. "It's something you dream of, making big shots in March," Skaljac told reporters later. "Obviously we had a ton of big-time threes today, so that was really cool."

"Our coaches instill confidence in us, and it flows through each and every person on our team," Elmer added.

And if there is one stat that might even be more impressive than Miami's prolific shooting, it'd have to be the RedHawks' assist/turnover ratio. Miami finished with 20 assists against just four turnovers, matching a season low in the latter category.

"I think it started early: We were just moving the ball really well," said Almar Atlason, who collected 12 points off the bench. "These are the moments you want to play in. It was really nice – we did a great job sharing the ball, and it led to a lot of open threes for us."

SMU scored the first four points of the contest before Skaljac answered back with a tough fading mid-range jumper and a straightaway three-pointer to put Miami up 5-4. A two-handed dunk by Atlason made it 7-7, and Elmer hit his first shot of the night for a 10-9 lead at the 14:50 mark. Elmer then sandwiched three shots from downtown around his 1,000th career point on an acrobatic finish in transition to make it 23-13.

"The buckets Eian had tonight were obviously very loud and got the crowd going," Suder said. "I can't put into words how good of a player he is and how much he means to the team…he's an energy guy and a spark for us."

Consecutive three-pointers from Byers and Justin Kirby helped Miami maintain its lead at 34-25, but the Mustangs wouldn't go away, answering right back from distance. Late in the half, Byers produced a three-point play and followed that with a pair of deep threes to help the RedHawks close on a 9-2 spurt and take a 43-34 lead to the locker room.

After a Suder three-point play opened the scoring for Miami in the second half to make it 46-38, the Mustangs responded with a 9-1 run to even the score. Suder hit a free throw and then stopped on a dime to drain a long pull-up jumper for a 50-49 advantage. Miami took the lead for good at 53-50 on a Byers shot from distance, and Atlason scored the next five points for the Red and White to force an SMU timeout with 11:16 remaining. Atlason then stretched the margin to 63-50 after curling to the top of the arc to hit a three-pointer with 10:18 to go.

Miami took its largest lead of the night at 71-57 with 7:15 to go, as Skaljac confidently drilled a triple to follow an Antwone Woolfolk jump hook; the ensuing roar from the rafters nearly took the roof off the building. Woolfolk then found a cutting Kirby with a no-look bounce pass for a lay-in to make it 75-61 at the six-minute mark.

After that, Elmer took over yet again. The junior wing buried what might have been the biggest shot of the night with four minutes to go, draining a right corner three off an Atlason feed for a 78-68 lead. On the Red and White's next possession, a Suder offensive rebound set up Elmer for another triple to make it 81-68 with three minutes left. Elmer put the exclamation point on Miami's first NCAA Tournament win of the 21st century with a gigantic backdoor dunk in the final minute, and the RedHawks went on to close out an 89-79 victory to advance to the round of 64.

Byers finished with 19 points for Miami, while Skaljac added 17. Suder was +11 (the best plus-minus stat of any player in the game) and dished out six assists to go with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Miami (32-1) advances to take on sixth-seeded Tennessee on Friday, March 20 at 4:25 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa. in a Midwest Region first-round game on TBS. The winner will play either Virginia or Wright State on Sunday. SMU ends its season at 20-14.

HOW DID HE DO THAT?: Elmer will probably never forget his 1,000th career point, and neither will the thousands of other people watching in the arena or on TV. Skaljac tipped the ball away from the Mustangs to Woolfolk, who flung it down the court over the head of Suder in transition. Suder not only caught up to the ball, but managed to bounce it behind him for Elmer. Elmer looked for a few milliseconds like he might actually defy gravity and somehow dunk the ball, but instead he twisted in midair and managed to finish the layup one-handed (and likely earn himself a spot on SportsCenter).

It's a play the RedHawks couldn't have drawn up better if they'd tried.

"Once I had the ball in my possession, I was turned the opposite way," Woolfolk explained. "I saw Peter on the fast break running already, and soon as I turned my head, I just threw the ball…it was a great play by all parties."

"I saw 'Twone threw it a little bit too far, and I was getting on my horse," Suder recalled. "Eian had hit three threes at that time, so I thought he was going to run opposite corner and I was just going to zip it to him. I saw him go for the lob, so I just threw it and it ended up working out for us."

"Incredible hustle by Suder," Steele marveled. "I thought that ball was going out of bounds. For him to be able to catch up to that ball and then have the wherewithal to bounce it back to Eian, just IQ and feel.

"[And how about] Eian running the floor, even though it looked like it was going out of bounds?…A lot of players would give up and stop running to save energy…but he gave max effort."

"That's like some March magic," Skaljac smiled. "I don't even know how Eian made that. That was insane; he kind of just threw it back in. It was crazy."

"Yeah, I don't know how I made it either," Elmer chimed in, drawing a chorus of laughs from the assembled media in the postgame press conference. "I was expecting a lob; Peter was running full-speed, so I was just trailing.

"He made an amazing pass, and I got lucky, honestly."

BATTLE OF THE BOARDS: Miami finished the game even with SMU on the glass at 35 rebounds apiece, which made Steele and his staff very happy, especially considering the dozen offensive rebounds the RedHawks pulled down. "Obviously we got our tail kicked against UMass on the glass in the MAC Tournament; we gave up 24 second-chance points and it was a one-possession game at the very end," Steele said. "So we've done a lot of physicality drills since then…we knew we were probably going to play an SMU-type of team that was going to be big, athletic, strong. And Andy Enfield's teams do a great job of rebounding the ball…

"I thought we battled in there and played hard."

"We learned a lot from our last game," Suder commented. "We have guys that can win 31 games straight and take [lessons] from wins, but they can also take from losses. That's exactly what we did tonight. We fixed what we needed to and we went out there and performed."

"For us, we battle size with toughness," Elmer said. "I think Peter really set the tone early in the game. He was getting almost every rebound, it felt like…and everybody else just followed.

Miami's effort on the glass bodes well for Friday's matchup against the Volunteers, who are among the best teams in the country in offensive rebounding.

"We're going to celebrate this tonight as a team, and then it's business the next day. We've got to start preparing for Tennessee," said Suder.

FACES IN THE CROWD: Photographers were lined up several people deep pregame to take pictures of the Miami cheering section, which included celebrities like five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine in the front two rows alone.

Harper congratulated the RedHawks in the locker room after the game, reiterating a simple message to the team: "We're not finished yet."

SPEEDOS ON THE STAIRS: Miami led 50-49 with 13:37 to go in the game when SMU's Corey Washington stepped to the foul line for a pair of free throws to try and give the Mustangs the lead.

That's when a significant percentage of the Miami men's swimming and diving team came racing down the stairway behind the basket to try and distract Washington, sending the entire crowd into a frenzy.

Washington missed the first free throw, because of course he did, and even though the second shot went in to knot the score at 50, Miami promptly rattled off a 13-0 run to take control of the game for good.

From there, the Mustangs would be swimming upstream [bad pun intended] for the rest of the night, never getting closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"When he missed that free throw, listen – that was so funny," Steele said. "So appreciative of the swim team and what they do to support our team.

"That was awesome: The whole arena started going bonkers when they were coming down the steps.

"What a cool moment!"

FLYING 'COACH': Even though Enfield was making his seventh NCAA Tournament appearance as a coach (with a 7-6 all-time record coming in, including runs to the Sweet 16 with Florida Gulf Coast and to the Elite Eight with USC), it was Steele (making his NCAA Tournament debut) who came out on top in the coaching matchup.

His message to the RedHawks as they took the floor? "Listen, just push your chips all in – attack," Steele said. "We deserved the moment; our guys deserved to be in this position. They've earned that right…

"I felt like we were the better team going into the game, and I think our guys have that real belief. I've said that a lot; the most powerful thing you can have is belief."

ELMER – GLUE GUY: Not only did Elmer make a half-dozen shots from deep, but he moved into seventh place on Miami's single-season list with 72 threes on the year. And if the highlight-reel poster dunk with 59 seconds left doesn't get made into a literal poster in the next few days, something is most definitely wrong.

"He was awesome," Atlason raved later. "He's shooting the ball really well on the year…proud of him. He never shied away from the moment and was always ready to shoot.

"That's who he is: He takes big shots, and he makes big shots.

"We're lucky to have him in these moments."