Evansville Wins Shootout Over Miami, 101-87

Saturday, December 7

Evansville, Ind.

2:00 p.m. ET

Miami University

4-5,0-0MAC

101

Evansville

7-3,0-0MVC

Miami (OH)

Evansville

101

Evansville Wins Shootout Over Miami, 101-87

12/7/2019 4:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Evansville 101 Miami 87 (PDF)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Miami University men's basketball team got into an offensive shootout against Evansville on Saturday, but the Purple Aces were able to pull away in the second half to take an 101-87 victory. The RedHawks fall to 4-5 on the season, while Evansville improves to 7-3.

Miami scored a season high in points with 87 and shot 52.4 percent (33-for-63) from the field, but the Purple Aces were even better at 64.2 percent (34-for-53), hitting 12-for-24 (50.0 percent) from behind the arc.

The loss spoiled a strong performance from junior guard Nike Sibande. He finished with a season-high 28 points, including a pair of highlight reel dunks. In his homecoming game, sophomore guard and Evansville native Mekhi Lairy had 11 points. Freshman guard Dae Dae Grant finished with 13, while sophomore forward Elijah McNamara scored a career-high 10.

It was actually a relatively pedestrian start for both teams until back-to-back threes from junior forward Dalonte Brown and Lairy put Miami in front, 8-5. UE took the lead back a couple of times, but two layups from senior forward Bam Bowman and one from Lairy gave the advantage right back to the RedHawks. A three-pointer from sophomore forward Josh Brewer put Miami on top, 17-16, at the under 12 media timeout with 11:46 to go. That is when the fireworks began.

The dish from hometown kid @Nolimitdeuce finds @32_markeith for the lead changing layup!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/E7lgIhXPUl
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

McNamara had two straight hoops to give MU a 21-17 advantage. The Purple Aces went on a 9-0 run, but Grant got the RedHawks right back into it with a pair of treys. A layup from Brown cut the deficit to one at 33-32 at the 6:26 mark, but Evansville scored five in a row to build the lead back to six. Grant hit another couple of baskets to give him 13 points in a less than eight minute stretch as Miami trailed 38-36 with 4:55 to go.

Back-to-back jumpers from @EliMac416!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/l6GuZfwMeI
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

Second straight 3 for @DGrant_03!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/5D86vPhTRc
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

The teams traded buckets until a UE miss led to a fast break slam dunk from Sibande that tied the score at 40. Tied at 42, the Purple Aces drained a three, but a pair of free throws from Lairy along with one from Sibande, followed by a fast break layup in the final minute by Sibande sent Miami into halftime with a 47-45 lead.

Nike doing @nike_sibande things!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/uzaFIqsdT1
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

The offenses kept rolling as Bowman opened up the second half with a layup to increase the advantage to four. Evansville followed with a 10-2 run to take a 55-51 lead. A three-pointer from Brewer cut the deficit to one with 16:12 remaining.

The 3 for @sleepyfloyd_35!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/Lei9F8cxdP
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

A 10-4 run by the Purple Aces extended the lead to seven points. Brewer hit another layup, but UE eventually pushed it to 69-60. Sibande kept Miami in the game with an alley-oop dunk from Brown, while McNamara drained a jumper to make it 69-64 with 10:07 to go.

This time the alley-oop for @nike_sibande!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/mqArAbEetz
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

Evansville outscored Miami 13-6 over the next three minutes to go in front, 82-70. The RedHawks did not give up, as Sibande drained a triple, while Lairy got a fast-break layup off of a Sibande block to pull within seven at 82-75 at the 6:11 mark. The Purple Aces would get the advantage back to double-digits, but each time Sibande got the key hoop to get Miami back to within nine. Unfortunately for the RedHawks, the Purple Aces hit all their free throws down the stretch and held on for the 101-87 win.

RedHawks not giving up as @nike_sibande hits the 3!

Watch Live: https://t.co/ocaZufuKXV #RiseUpRedHawks pic.twitter.com/w9kYyBBNkx
— MiamiOH Basketball (@MiamiOH_BBall) December 7, 2019

Brewer and Bowman each had eight for Miami, while Brown had seven despite being limited to only 12 minutes due to foul trouble. It was a big day for Evansville forward DeAndre Williams, as he finished with a career-high 37 points on 17-for-18 shooting.

The RedHawks will be off for the next eight days due to final exams. Miami returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 15 when it hosts Mississippi Valley State. Tip time is 2 p.m. and it will air live on ESPN3.