AMHERST, Mass. — No. 22 Miami of Ohio won its 26th straight game to remain the last unbeaten team in Division 1, defeating UMass 86-77 on Tuesday night thanks to 23 points from Peter Suder.
Luke Skaljac had 16 points and seven assists for Miami (26-0, 13-0 Mid-American Conference). Leonardo Bettiol scored 18 points with nine rebounds, Isaiah Placide scored 19 and Danny Carbuccia had 15 for UMass (15-12, 6-8).
Miami led by eight points with 14 minutes left before UMass scored seven straight to make it a one-point game and then added a 5-0 run to take a 62-60 lead. It was tied for the final time at 68-68 when Placide banked in a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer, leaving defender Eian Elmer shrugging in disbelief.
But Elmer answered with a 3 for Miami, then Suder hit a layup after a UMass turnover to give the RedHawks a five-point lead.
UMass never got any closer than three points after that.
Miami will go for 27-0 when it hosts Bowling Green on Friday night, while UMass is at home against Buffalo on Saturday night.