This story originally appeared on MiamiRedHawks.com.

DAYTON, Ohio — Luke Skaljac looked like he was playing peekaboo.

Miami's First Four press conference was about to start at UD Arena Tuesday afternoon, but since the clock hadn't quite made it to the appointed time of 12:50 p.m., Skaljac, Eian Elmer, Brant Byers and Peter Suder had a couple of minutes to kill behind the black curtains.

Still, Skaljac couldn't resist parting the curtains a few inches and taking a quick glance around to get a glimpse of the room where the four RedHawks would eventually address the media to officially get the RedHawks' NCAA itinerary underway.

In some ways, it was only fitting that Skaljac's face was the first one the assembled crowd of reporters saw. Because it's fair to say that without him, Miami might not be in the NCAA Tournament at all.

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Skaljac had a solid freshman season in 2024-25, playing in 32 games as a reserve shooting guard, averaging 13.9 minutes a night and contributing 5.4 points and 1.5 assists to a then-record 25-win season. This year, he came off the bench behind Evan Ipsaro as the backup point guard through the first dozen contests and boosted his production to 6.4 points and 3.8 assists per game. But when Ipsaro was lost to a season-ending knee injury on Dec. 20, Skaljac's role changed instantly…and dramatically.

Over Miami's next 20 games, Skaljac played more than 30 minutes a night and saw his averages skyrocket to 12.8 points and 5.3 assists across that span. Not only did he become a starter in the blink of an eye and 'hold down the fort' for a team enjoying a historic undefeated run en route to its current 31-1 mark, but Skaljac rewrote the record books in the process. He currently ranks 10th in program history for single-season assists (142) and checks in at fourth in the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.63), all while going off for double-figure scoring in 14 of his 18 appearances since Ipsaro's injury.

"To have Evan go down is obviously horrible; sometimes that can even break a team," Suder said this afternoon. "But obviously Luke has been a great player for us. He's stepped up in a huge in a way…[while] still being an underclassman.

"His game —the way he's translated to our offense and the way he uplifted our whole team— definitely propelled us into the future."

"He's stepped up a lot," Antwone Woolfolk pointed out. "Luke filled [Evan's] shoes tremendously. Losing one of the best players in the MAC is not easy to recover from, and Luke stepped up and became one of the best players in the MAC as well.

"All-MAC Third Team – the numbers speak for themselves."

Miami knows it will certainly have its hands full tomorrow with an SMU backcourt that boasts three All-ACC senior guards, but Skaljac has been unflappable —to borrow an oft-used Travis Steele term describing the 2025-26 RedHawks as a whole— running the offense game-in and game-out, which bodes well for the Red and White when the bright lights come on Wednesday night.

"It obviously took me some time to get used to playing point guard full-time, but I think I've done a pretty good job of just leading the team and staying composed during big moments of the game," Skaljac said. "I feel like a lot of good point guards have that type of ability where they can stay calm during big moments when teams go on a run; overall, we've done a pretty good job with it."

Skaljac has gritted out the last three games for Miami after hurting his wrist against Eastern Michigan and missing the next game, but besides the occasional grimace and the obvious nightly tape job, is showing surprisingly few ill effects despite playing through some pain. "I'm good to go," he reiterated.

"That kid's tough," Woolfolk said. "I don't think there's much that can hold him out, really; he's putting the team above himself."

"He's a 'dawg,'" freshman Justin Kirby added as he looked over at Skaljac in the locker room this afternoon. "I'm very proud of him; he's overcome a lot of adversity."

"Luke's not 100%, but…he wants to be out there with his brothers," Steele said after Miami clinched the regular-season MAC crown on March 3 against Toledo in Skaljac's return to the lineup.

On the other hand…

"Once the ball's in the air, everybody's 100%," Atlason smiled today.

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BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Elmer is back in familiar territory in Dayton after leading Taft High to a state championship in this building in 2022. "As soon as I walked in, just got hit with a whole bunch of nostalgia," the Cincinnati native said. "We're even in the same locker room as when we won state.

"It's a great feeling to be back here," Elmer continued. "I have great memories of this place and I want to continue to make some more."

NOT THROWING AWAY THEIR SHOT: The RedHawks spent the majority of their 40-minute open practice at UD Arena this afternoon getting shots up…lots and lots and lots of shots. With many prognosticators predicting a high-scoring showdown between the RedHawks (90.7 points per game) and Mustangs (84.2 ppg), Miami took every opportunity possible to get used to the arena, the rims and the shooting background.

On paper, one potential matchup the Red and White might be able to exploit (with a lineup featuring five players that can shoot from downtown) is trying to pull 7-foot-2 Samet Yiğitoğlu away from the basket.

"I think it keeps their defense honest," said Atlason, a 6-foot-8 forward who drained 57 three-pointers this season.

"They like to keep the big guy low…I think being able to stretch him out and have him maybe change coverages or move him, make him a bit uncomfortable – I think that can really help."

MARCH MADNESS MEMORIES: Each of the Miami players in today's press conference was asked to recount their favorite memories from March Madness. Skaljac got to take in a couple of Loyola (Chicago) games in person in 2018. Elmer recalled seeing eventual No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson and 7-foot-6 giant Tacko Fall battle it out the following season. Byers, a Pennsylvania native, mentioned Lehigh's unforgettable upset of second-seeded Duke in 2012. And Suder, who knows a thing or two about dramatic buzzer-beaters himself, referenced Kris Jenkins' championship-winning shot for Villanova against North Carolina in the 2016 title game.

MID-MAJOR MOJO: With a showdown against a Power Four opponent just over 24 hours away, Steele was asked about what impact Miami's remarkable season might have for mid-major basketball going forward. "We feel like we're carrying a lot of the mid-major on our back right now a little bit with, 'Hey, 'we got an at-large bid,'" he said. "So we need to capitalize, not just for Miami, but for all the other mid-major basketball, because there's a lot of good teams (one seeds) that got knocked out in the conference tournaments…Belmont, UNC Wilmington, you can go on and on.

"There are a lot of very good teams that I think are deserving to have an opportunity at an at-large bid…

"Hopefully our guys can take advantage of the opportunity that we have and showcase that mid-major basketball is great hoops and we can compete with anybody.

"We know there's a lot at stake with that."

BOUNCE BACK BETTER?: Miami will look to bounce back from defeat for the first time in more than a year when Wednesday's game tips off, making for an unfamiliar feeling for the 2025-26 RedHawks as they turn the page from the MAC Tournament to the NCAA Tournament and try to start another long winning streak. "It's definitely weird getting our first loss," Suder said. "31 straight is unheard of…but we've got guys that go through the process every single day (and went through the process last year) and just get better whether it's a win or a loss."

"Obviously we…wanted to win the MAC Tournament, but I think in a way it kind of helped us," Skaljac said. "Kind of humbled us a little bit and prepared us for these types of moments for sure."

"It was up to us to own it after the loss," Elmer added. "We took some points from that loss and we're ready to be us again."

DANCING IN DAYTON: The RedHawks will enjoy a pseudo-home game Wednesday night (just 40 miles from Oxford) and are looking forward to playing in front of a partisan crowd in UD Arena as they take part in the building's 145th all-time NCAA Tournament contest.

"What a unique opportunity for our fans," Steele said. "It's a drivable distance, whether it's here or you're from Dayton or Cincinnati [or] Columbus. To be able to watch Miami play in the NCAA Tournament, man, [it] doesn't get much better.

"So I expect this to be a home game for us in a lot of ways. When I saw the draw, obviously that's what immediately popped into my mind, like, 'Man, this is pretty cool.'

"Hopefully our fan base will take advantage of that and show up and show out tomorrow night."

Miami vs. SMU will tip off at approximately 9:15 p.m. Wednesday night and air nationally on truTV.