Miami’s men’s basketball team earns at-large bid to NCAA Tournament
RedHawks will play in First Four at UD Arena in Dayton
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Published
The Miami University men's basketball team reacts during Selection Sunday. The RedHawks earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. (Scott Kissell photo)
Miami’s men’s basketball team earns at-large bid to NCAA Tournament
RedHawks will play in First Four at UD Arena in Dayton
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Published
This story originally appeared on MiamiRedHawks.com.
The Miami University men's basketball team is heading to the NCAA Tournament.The RedHawks, who went undefeated during the regular season and boast a 31-1 overall record, will open tournament play in the First Four against fellow No. 11 seed SMU at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The game will tip off at approximately 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18 and be broadcast on truTV.
The winner will travel to Philadelphia and take on sixth-seeded Tennessee in Midwest Region first-round action on Friday, March 20 at 4:25 p.m. The second-round games in Philadelphia will be Sunday, March 22.
"Obviously, very excited to be selected as an at-large team," head coach Travis Steele said. "Huge honor – happy for our guys…
"It's going to be a great environment," Steele continued, referring to the RedHawks' matchup with the Mustangs (20-13), that will take place only 60 miles away from Miami's campus. "Hopefully…the RedHawk nation will be showing up there on Wednesday night to support us.
"I'm sure they will; it will be a home game for us."
Should Miami continue to advance past the first week of the tournament, the regional semifinals and final will be held March 27 and 29, respectively, at the United Center in Chicago, followed by the Final Four in Indianapolis (April 4-6).
There were admittedly some nerves Sunday night as the RedHawks gathered together in the Gloor Auditorium of the Randy Gunlock Family Athletic Performance Center —complete with local and national television cameras following their every move— to learn their postseason fate.
When Miami's name was read, the room erupted with excitement, although the outburst seemed a bit tempered by the longstanding belief that the RedHawks had done more than enough to secure a ticket to the Big Dance.
"I was very confident," said junior wing Eian Elmer later. "I think it's hard to leave a team that's 31-0 in the regular season out. I think it wouldn't look right for the sport diminishing something like that, something that's very rarely done."
Led by MAC Coach of the Year Travis Steele and MAC Player of the Year Peter Suder, the RedHawks entered the postseason averaging 90.9 points per game (second in the country) and leading the nation in field goal percentage (52.6%), with seven different players averaging double-figure scoring this season. Miami has been a fixture in the national polls over the past two months, including earning the program's highest ranking since 1978, and is currently No. 20.
"It's been a blur in a lot of ways," Steele said Sunday night when asked to recap the past four-plus months. "The season's long, but it also has gone really, really quickly."
Miami set records this year for the best start to a season in program history, the best start for a program in MAC history, the longest win streak in MAC history, the most consecutive conference wins in MAC history and the most wins in program history as the Red and White became just the fifth NCAA D-I men's program this century to go undefeated in regular-season play.
And the reward? A long-coveted spot in March Madness.
"This is what you work for your entire life," Steele said, recalling the many years growing up that he filled out a bracket in anticipation of the sport's signature event.
"The teachers that I loved back in fifth grade [and] fourth grade let you watch, right? Really good teachers let you watch games in school.
"Again, it's a surreal moment for our guys."
Miami earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2007 and becomes the first Mid-American Conference team to get an at-large bid since the Wally Szczerbiak-led RedHawks advanced to the Sweet 16 in 1999.
"It's been a dream ever since I was a kid to play in the NCAA Tournament," said Suder, a senior guard from Carmel, Ind. "We've got a group of guys that can definitely do something special in there."
The RedHawks have the type of hot-shooting team and experience in nail-biter games (8-0 in one-possession contests this year) that bodes well in a single-elimination event at this time of year. "We're built for March," Steele commented.
"We believe that we can make a run," said Elmer. "In March anything can happen. We can still be that Cinderella story everyone wants us to be."
Tip times, ticket information, and television information will be announced soon, but the RedHawks' coaches will immediately be digging into prep for SMU, with tipoff just over 72 hours away.
And hopefully for the Red and White, they'll be taking the court in front of a partisan crowd when they get underway Wednesday night in southwest Ohio.
"Get out and support this team. We've got great guys; they put a lot of work in," Steele said. "It's so unique, almost a home game in the NCAA Tournament setting.
"It doesn't get much better than that."
A request form for those interested in purchasing tickets to the March 18 game through Miami Athletics is available here. Tickets in the Miami allotment are $100 per seat and will be allocated based on Miami Athletic Fund loyalty points. Tickets are also available on Ticketmaster here.