DAYTON, Ohio — College basketball’s biggest storybook tale this season seizes the national spotlight as Miami (Ohio) takes on SMU in a clash of No. 11 seeds in the final First Four game Wednesday night.
The RedHawks (31-1) will have a decided home-court advantage from the sellout crowd as they try to put their stunning 87-83 loss to UMass in the first round of the Mid-American Conference tournament behind them.
University of Dayton Arena is only one hour from Miami’s campus in Oxford, Ohio. Xavier enjoyed a similar geographical benefit in last year’s First Four and rode the crowd’s energy to rally past Texas.
For SMU (20-13), the First Four is a chance to prove they deserved their ticket to the tournament thanks to their ambitious nonconference schedule. The Mustangs went only 8-10 in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference — and 3-8 on the road overall. But in four straight games in December against SEC opposition away from home, they defeated Mississippi State and Texas A&M while falling to Vanderbilt and LSU.
While the Mustangs earned a tournament spot because of their demanding schedule — the Mustangs went 4-9 against Quad 1 opponents and 5-4 versus Quad 2 — the RedHawks earned theirs despite a soft nonconference slate that featured no games against power conference foes.
Nonetheless, Miami — No. 37 in NET rankings — became the first team since Gonzaga in 2021 to post an unbeaten regular season. Despite their historic run, the MAC tournament quarterfinal exit relegated the RedHawks to an at-large bid and the trip to Dayton.
“In this world, everybody gets caught up in results. That’s all the world wants,” Miami coach Travis Steele said, addressing critics of his team’s schedule. “But then when we are at 31-0, then everybody’s talking about, oh, everything else matters. People contradict themselves all the time.”
SMU head coach Andy Enfield has leaned on his experienced backcourt, which includes standout guards B.J. Edwards, Jaron Pierre Jr. and Kevin “Boopie” Miller. Edwards, who missed the conference tournament with an ankle injury, is expected to return for Wednesday’s game.
Miller, a second-team all-ACC pick, led SMU at 19.2 points per game while Pierre averaged 17.6 points.
“We feel very strongly that we deserve to be in,” Enfield said. “I think as far as our schedule strength … that our resume is probably better than some of the other teams in that area. The advantage of having experienced players (is that) our team has been very good in close games this year. Every game is close in this league.”
The RedHawks counter the Mustangs’ strong backcourt with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense (90.7 ppg) and the best effective field goal percentage (61.2%). MAC Player of the Year Peter Suder (14.6 ppg) leads a balanced offense that boasts six active double-figure scorers.
The RedHawks will have to find a way to handle the physicality of an SMU team that ranks much higher in defensive metrics. Their loss to UMass exposed a weakness on the glass, as they were outrebounded 41-24 and outscored 54-30 in the paint. Miami, which has only one post player in its rotation in 6-foot-9, 245-pound Antwone Woolfolk, will need to gang-rebound against SMU 7-foot-2, 270-pound center Samet Yigitoglu.
Oddsmakers have established SMU as a 7.5-point favorite. The winner of Wednesday’s final First Four game advances to take on No. 6 seed Tennessee in a Midwest Region first-round game Friday in Philadelphia.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
