AKRON, Ohio— In the 20th game of the season, Miami (7-13, 1-6 MAC) lost to Akron (14-6, 6-1 MAC) 73-68 Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena. Mekhi Lairy led the RedHawks in scoring with 16 points and Morgan Safford added another 13 points. Anderson Mirambeaux also recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Xavier Castaneda led the Zips with 32 points.

 HOW IT HAPPENED

• The RedHawks came out strong, taking a 6-2 lead following a Kamari Williams putback dunk. The Red and White continued to hold onto the lead at 13-6 after Billy Smith converted a layup. Akron then answered with a 12-2 run to pull ahead 18-15 with 8:43 to play.
• Akron took their largest lead up to that point at 25-19, but Lairy responded with a layup and three-point field goal to help the RedHawks regain the lead at 26-25. Mirambeaux closed out the half with a couple of layups to keep Miami within three going into halftime.
• The second half started with back-and-forth action, Miami regaining the lead after Lairy made a shot from beyond the arc at 39-38. Williams and Smith each hit from deep to bring the score to 47-46 and deter Akron from pulling away with 12:32 to play. From 11:49 to 5:55 Safford put up 10 points and made each shot for the RedHawks. The Red and White trailed 58-57 after this scoring spree.
• Akron went on to extend their lead to 69-64 with 53 seconds left in the game. Yet, Miami came within one point at 69-68 after a pair of free throws from Mirambeaux and a Lairy layup. Despite the strong push, the Zips closed the game out with a 73-68 win.

NOTES

• Lairy moved into sixth place on the program's career scoring list with 1,534 points, passing Dalonte Brown (2018-2022).
• Lairy and Smith each had the game-high two steals.

UP NEXT:
Miami continues conference play by returning home to face Eastern Michigan University this Saturday, Jan. 28. Tip time is set for 3:30 p.m. in Oxford, Ohio.