Miami (OH) makes March Madness statement with dominant win over SMU

Miami (OH) just barely got into the NCAA Tournament after a 31-1 campaign, but the RedHawks still had to earn their spot in the Round of 64 in the First Four. It’s almost as if, after scrutiny about Miami’s schedule and its margin of victory against some inferior opponents, the selection committee wanted Travis Steele and company to prove they belonged one more time.

Message received. Miami led nearly start to finish on Wednesday night in Dayton, eventually toppling a talented SMU squad 89-79 to advance to the Round of 64.

All of the qualities that allowed Miami to have such a magical season were on full display in this game. The RedHawks move the ball beautifully and unselfishly, notching 20 assists on 29 made field goals in the victory. The exclamation point was fitting, as Eian Elmer beat his man on a backdoor cut and Almar Atlason found him with a perfectly-timed bounce pass for a monster dunk to cap off the night.

Perfect exclamation point on this win.

Elite offensive team. Everyone can pass, everyone can shoot. This was also Miami OH’s best rebounding and defensive performance in quite some time, too.

Think the RedHawks can keep this rolling vs Tennessee pic.twitter.com/EzvGZ2du8r

— Brian Rauf (@brauf33) March 19, 2026

Miami can also shoot the lights out, and it did just that on Wednesday night. Steele’s club got up 41 3-pointers and drilled 16 of them, compared to just 5-for-21 for the Mustangs.

It was a team effort for Miami in this win, as four players scored in double figures. Elmer led the way with a hyper-efficient 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 6-for-9 from the 3-point line, while Brant Byers scored 19.

Miami will now head to Philadelphia, where it will take on No. 6 seed Tennessee in the Midwest Region on Friday afternoon.

This story will be updated.

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