Miami Gets Back On Track, Defeats Buffalo 84-69
By: Jack Mueller
Photos Courtesy of: Megan Walker / Miami Athletics
The Miami RedHawks defeated Buffalo on the road 84--69 on Tuesday night, improving their conference record to 13-4. Travis Steele’s team regained some momentum after Saturday’s loss to Ohio with a dominant victory in which they led for over 33 minutes.
All season, Steele has preached that his team is the deepest in the league, and they showed it against the Bulls. Five players finished with more than ten points, and eight players got on the scoresheet in the victory.
Miami’s offense performed as well as it has all season in the first twenty minutes, and was crucial to the win. The RedHawks shot 61% from the field, and made eight of their ten three-point attempts.
After forty minutes, the RedHawks’ marks of 55.9% field goal percentage and 24 assists ranked as their 3rd and 4th highest of the season respectively.
Mekhi Cooper and Peter Suder were both a big reason for the efficiency. Of those 24 assists, the two starting guards combined for 14 of them. Evan Ipsaro provided four of his own for the bench unit as well.
Suder led the team in scoring as well, pouring in 15 points on 66% shooting, his best mark in over a month. Luke Skaljac provided 14 of his own from the bench, including six-straight to give Miami a lead they would never relinquish.
How it Happened
Anquan Boldin Jr. gave the Bulls an early 7-2 lead with five straight points (3pt, two free throws) after Dunn and Woolfolk traded buckets to open the game. Peter Suder and Mekhi Cooper connected on back-to-back threes to cut the lead to one, but 6 '11 freshman Tim Oboh made it 11-8 after finding space in the paint.
The RedHawks responded with a 10-0 run to take control of the game. Reece Potter got himself off the mark by tying the game with his 20th three pointer of the season. The 7’1” big man cashed in an Elmer turnover with a layup to give Miami their first lead of the game. Luke Skaljac extended that lead to five with a triple just seconds after coming off of the bench.
The Bulls were forced into a timeout that proved to be beneficial for the home side. Tim Oboh was fouled on a layup that went down, but couldn’t convert the free throw. Suder responded with two of his own, but Boldin found space for his second three of the game to cut the lead to four. True freshman Kavon Bradford cut further into the lead with back-to-back makes, but Kam Craft and Elmer extended Miami’s lead to eight with back-to-back threes.
Miami’s freshman Brant Byers got on the board with a dunk. Dunn got two of his own, and Noah Batchelor connected from three to make it 31-29 with just under five minutes to play in the first. From there, the RedHawks ended the half on a 14-4 run, highlighted by threes by Cooper and Suder, in addition to a six-point individual run from Luke Skaljac.
The run was extended to 20-4 after the break. Craft’s second three and an and-one from Peter Suder extended the lead to 53-35 to open the second half. The Bulls managed to cut the lead to 12 courtesy of five points from Dunn and an Oboh hook shot. The RedHawks came right back with five straight to give them their biggest lead of the night at 62-44.
The RedHawks made three straight shots following the first media timeout, largely due to their ball movement. Woolfolk, Byers and Potter were all beneficiaries of perfect passes, and made no mistake, keeping the lead at 18. Five straight Buffalo points followed, highlighted by a three from sophomore Bryson Wilson. Miami responded with five straight too, courtesy of Byers’ first three and a Cooper floater.
Four Ben Michaels points followed Boldin Jr’s jumper to cut the lead to 12 with seven minutes to play. Suder’s sixth make of the night gave Miami momentum, and Byers’ dunk extended the lead to 16 with just two minutes to play. The RedHawks were able to kill the rest of the clock from there allowing them to make the long trip home with the win.
Up Next:
The RedHawks will finish their stellar MAC campaign in front of their home crowd at Millett Hall. Miami will celebrate senior day on Friday against Ball State in front of a national television audience. The matchup with the Cardinals serves as Miami’s final opportunity to prepare for the MAC tournament the following week, in which they hold the #2 seed.
That game will be aired on ESPNU at 6 p.m. and RiverfrontU will have live updates throughout on social media.