DI men's basketball's last undefeated team has fallen.
No. 20 Miami (Ohio) lost 87-83 to UMass early Thursday afternoon, losing in in the first game of the MAC tournament. The Redhawks were 31-0 entering the day, but in their third matchup of the season, the Minutemen prevailed to halt the perfect run.
The setback means Miami (Ohio) can no longer secure an automatic bid through a conference tournament championship into March Madness and now are in the at-large pool. In his most recent bracket predictions made before the MAC tournament began, krikya168vip.com's Andy Katz had the RedHawks a No. 10 seed.
Only two points separated the two teams at half in a tight contest, but the RedHawks are no stranger to close games, encountering quite a few during their perfect regular season run. Miami (Ohio) won nine games that were either decided by one possession or in overtime, including its final regular season game against Ohio, when the RedHawks squeezed out a 110-108 win in OT.
For a bit, this one seemed safer for the MAC's No. 1 seed, leading 69-58 with under nine minutes to play. However, a 13-2 Minutemen run over the next three minutes brought the RedHawks into another close finish.
The two teams traded buckets until a Marcus Banks Jr. 3-pointer put UMass in front 77-76 for the first time in the second half with under four minutes to play. Banks finished with 18 points including a perfect 4 for 4 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds.
Marcus Banks Jr. for the lead!🚩
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassMBB)
But the man of the hour was Minutemen forward Leonardo Bettiol, who dropped 25 points on a 10 for 15 mark from the field. The 6-foot-9 big man tallied 65 total points in three games against the RedHawks this season, with his most (25) came in the biggest matchup yet.
UMass struggled from beyond the arc, knocking down only three 3-pointers all game to Miami (Ohio)'s 12, but just about every other category was in the Minutemen's favor. UMass hammered the RedHawks on the glass with a 41-24 rebounding disparity leading to a 24-point advantage in points in the paint.
The Minutemen advance to the second round of the MAC tournament, where they will face the winner of Bowling Green vs. Toldeo. Meanwhile, the RedHawks will anxiously wait for Selection Sunday.
