{"id":189081,"date":"2026-03-12T19:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/189081\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:22:09","slug":"umass-hands-no-20-miami-first-loss-of-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/189081\/","title":{"rendered":"UMass Hands No. 20 Miami First Loss of Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio\u2013 Leonardo Bettiol scored a game-high 25 points and eighth-seeded Massachusetts rallied in the second half to upset top-seeded Miami 87-83 in a MAC Tournament quarterfinal Thursday morning. Brant Byers<\/a> led five players in double figures for the No. 20 RedHawks (31-1) with 17 points. The Minutemen (17-15) advance to play Toledo or Bowling Green in a semifinal Friday at 5 p.m.
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\nUMass outrebounded Miami 41-24 (including 17 offensive rebounds), out-scoring the RedHawks 23-8 in second-chance points and 54-30 in points in the paint.
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\n“We’ve got to rebound better,” said senior guard Peter Suder<\/a>. “We’ve got such a good group of guys; [we need to] take the positives of this and stay close. Connectivity is our biggest thing: It’s our superpower.”
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\nHead coach Travis Steele<\/a> echoed those thoughts after a back-and-forth game that featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties. “They obviously had 17 offensive rebounds for 23 second-chance points, and that’s the game in a lot of ways,” Steele said.
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\n“We always go back to watch the film; we’ll break it down just like we always do\u2026[we’ll be] off tomorrow, and back at it Saturday trying to figure out ways to get better.
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\n“There’s still a lot of season left. Can we continue to improve? I think that’s what the great teams do.”<\/p>\n

Miami can become the first Mid-American Conference team to earn an at-large bid to March Madness since the Wally Szczerbiak-led squad in 1999 advanced to the Sweet 16 when the brackets are unveiled Sunday night.

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\n“Our guys have earned the right, in my opinion, to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Steele said.

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\n\u00a0How it Happened:
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\n\tTwo early assists from Luke Skaljac<\/a> to Antwone Woolfolk<\/a> inside set the tone for Miami offensively, and a big-time rebound and putback by Eian Elmer<\/a> pulled the Red and White within 8-6 at the 16:40 mark. Brant Byers<\/a> knocked down Miami’s first three-pointer of the day to make it 11-all with 13:56 remaining. Justin Kirby<\/a> converted a triple to keep Miami close two minutes later, trailing 17-16. A quick four points from Miami near the midway point of the first half put the RedHawks up 20-19; Byers hung in mid-air and hit a circus shot off glass, followed by Suder stealing the ensuing inbounds pass for a layup.
\n\tA pair of putbacks by Woolfolk gave Miami a 24-23 advantage in a back-and-forth game, and Suder splashed in a triple to stretch the margin to 27-23. The Minutemen scored the next five points, but Byers connected from mid-range to regain the lead for the Red and White. An alley-oop to Elmer in transition kept Miami within one point at 32-31, and the junior wing added a shot from downtown to go ahead 34-33 in the final two minutes. A Woolfolk three-point play made it 37-35 with 1:13 to go, and Woolfolk capped the half in style by laying home a Skaljac lob on an out-of-bounds set play at the horn for a 39-37 lead.
\n\tMiami stretched its advantage to 45-38 just over two minutes into the second half and forced a UMass timeout after back-to-back buckets from Skaljac. The RedHawks then grabbed their first double-digit cushion at 52-42 with 14:30 to play, courtesy of consecutive three-pointers from Kirby and Suder. Byers’ activity helped keep the Minutemen at bay, including a finish inside, four-straight free throws and a wide-open dunk with 10:30 left. Trey Perry<\/a> then drained a three in front of the Miami bench to make it 66-56 and force a UMass timeout at the 10:04 mark.
\n\tMiami took its largest lead at 69-58 with 8:33 remaining when Skaljac kicked out to Elmer for an open triple, but UMass responded with a 13-2 burst to even the score at 71-71 with 5:21 to play. Almar Atlason<\/a> buried a three, and the Minutemen answered with a three-point play to keep the game level. Skaljac got to the rim to put Miami on top 76-74 and then tied the game at 79-all with three minutes on the clock. Suder hit a pull-up to tie the game at 81 in the final minute, but UMass scored the next four points and went on to finish off an 87-83 win <\/p>\n

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\nMAN IN THE MIDDLE: Woolfolk scored all 14 of his points in the first half, including the buzzer-beater, and finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, playing in his hometown of Cleveland.
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\nSteele said the RedHawks’ senior big man was a difference-maker offensively, whether he was taking shots or setting up attempts for his teammates.
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\n“They did a better job, I thought, taking away our rolls [after halftime]; we really hurt them with the rolls in the first half,” said Steele.
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\n“I thought Antwone put a lot of pressure on that rim \u2013 great job in the first half. Second half, they protected it a little more which opened up more threes. Even though Antwone may not have gotten the field goal attempts, he opened up things for his teammates\u20268-of-15 from three [after halftime].
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\n“I think people always look at it from a standpoint of: Numbers-wise, he’s not going to get any credit for rolling hard and creating a paint threat, because that paint threat collapses the defense and then gets those other guys open. So Antwone still had a huge impact on the game offensively.”
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\nIT’S BEEN AWHILE: In seeing its 31-game winning streak snapped, Miami lost a game for the first time in 362 days. In the postgame press conference, freshman Trey Perry<\/a> pointed out how different of a feeling that was for the RedHawks, and for him specifically: “It hurts obviously, being my first collegiate loss, [after] our success in the regular season,” Perry said.
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\nHANDING OUT HELPERS: Suder and Skaljac each dished out seven assists to go with 10 points apiece. Miami has 516 assists this year, the third-highest single-season total in program history, and Skaljac moved into the top 10 in single-season assists (now at 142), passing Rob Mestas, Jamie Mercurio and Eric Washington. The RedHawks also have made over 1,000 field goals as a team (1,001) for the first time in program history, breaking the previous record of 985 from a year ago.
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\nSELECTION SUNDAY: Miami will await a potential berth in the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show set for 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 15 on CBS.<\/p>\n

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