Cleveland–No. 20 Miami (Ohio) suffered a shocking first defeat 87-83 damage to umass In its first game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Thursday, it upset the last perfect record in Division I men’s basketball.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford Made a tiebreaking layup with 29 seconds remaining, and the Minutemen escaped with a win in a quarterfinal game that featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.
The RedHawks (31–1) were the fifth men’s Division I program this century to go undefeated during the regular season. Now, it is the second player to fall short in its conference tournament. 2004 Lost to St. Joseph’s Xavier in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals but was still the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Miami was the first team since Gonzaga in 2020-21 to go undefeated in a conference tournament.
“In my opinion, our guys have earned the right to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Miami coach Travis Steele told reporters.
The RedHawks had eight one-possession games during the regular season, including their last three games coming in the MAC Tournament.
There were some doubts about the RedHawks earning an at-large berth. They went quiet after last Friday’s win over Ohio but could be active again after this.
Following Hankins-Sanford’s layoff, Miami’s Luke Skaljack Made a bad pass and turned the ball over marcus banksWho made two free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Brant Byers Was fouled on a 3-point attempt but made only two of three free throws. Banks tied the game with another pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining.
Leonardo Bettiol UMass (17-15) led with 25 points while Banks added 18. jaden ndzigué 16.
Byers led Miami with 17 points, and Ian Elmer 16 added.
Miami had a 69–58 lead with 8:11 remaining, before UMass came back with a 13–2 run. Ndzigu had six points, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 71.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
