No. 23 Miami Moves to 23-0 With Win at Buffalo

Tuesday, February 3

Buffalo, N.Y.

6:30 p.m.

Miami University

23-0,11-0MAC

Buffalo

14-9,4-7MAC

Miami (OH)

Buffalo

Photo by: Megan Walker

No. 23 Miami Moves to 23-0 With Win at Buffalo

2/3/2026 8:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y.– Luke Skaljac scored 15 of his career-high 19 points after halftime as No. 23/24 Miami University hung on for a 73-71 win at Buffalo Tuesday night in Mid-American Conference play. Brant Byers had 11 points for the RedHawks (23-0, 11-0 MAC), while Peter Suder added 10 points and eight assists. Angelo Brizzi had a game-high 22 points for the Bulls (14-9, 4-7 MAC).

From spin moves to step-backs, with up-and-under moves on one trip and fancy footwork the next, Skaljac came through every time the Red and White needed a big basket. The sophomore guard also recorded a career-high five steals, all after intermission, and added three assists.

"The ball was in my hands towards the end of the game…and I made a few big shots down the stretch," Skaljac said, while also going out of his way to credit his teammates for the way they shared the ball and made the right reads offensively. "We keep finding ways to win, and tonight was just another example of that."

"Luke's a terrific player," said head coach Travis Steele. "He can go get his own shot; he can make plays for others. We knew that when we recruited him out of high school; I thought he was the best guard in the state of Ohio in that class of 2024, and I think he's [been] able to showcase that here during MAC play."

HOW IT HAPPENED:

An early Eian Elmer three, followed by back-to-back layups from Byers and Almar Atlason, sparked a 7-0 run for Miami to give the visitors a 9-3 lead. Byers finished a layup and then connected on a deep triple to make it 18-11 with 13:19 left in the half. Buffalo responded with seven-straight points to tie the score, but Justin Kirby knocked down a corner three-pointer and Skaljac drove for a layup to put Miami on top 23-18 at the midway point of the period. On the next trip down the floor, Suder eluded an attempted double-team and got to the rim to make it 25-20, capping a run of 11 Miami made field goals in a span of 12 attempts.
After the Bulls went back on top, Elmer answered with a long-range shot from the corner to re-take the lead at 28-26. Trey Perry then converted layups on back-to-back trips, but Buffalo came right back to go ahead 33-32 before Byers was able to hang in mid-air and hit from inside. Tough turnarounds in the paint by Antwone Woolfolk and Skaljac in the final two minutes gave the RedHawks a 38-35 lead at the intermission.
Miami broke the game open with a 10-0 run in the first two minutes of the second half. Three-pointers from Elmer and Skaljac stretched the lead to 44-37, and Suder came up with layups after RedHawk steals on each of the next two possessions to force a Buffalo timeout. Skaljac then made a highlight-reel up-and-under spin move and added a step-back jumper from the foul line to give Miami its largest lead at 52-40. The home team wouldn't go away, scoring nine points in a row to trim the lead to a single possession before a Skaljac pull-up and a high-flying transition jam from Kirby with 11:51 left.
Miami's first free throws of the game stretched the lead to 60-52 with 9:25 to go, but a 10-2 spurt helped Buffalo draw even once more with 6:39 on the clock. Skaljac used a transition Eurostep to get to the rim and re-take the lead, and then consecutive hoops from Woolfolk inside put Miami on top 68-66 at the 4:50 mark. Skaljac took over from there, scoring on a spin move and burying a pull-up jumper down the stretch to give the RedHawks a 72-66 cushion. "We've got all the confidence in the world [in] him taking and making those shots," Steele said. Still, Buffalo continued to stay close, throwing down a one-handed dunk and hitting a three, and after Miami missed back-to-back free throws, the Bulls ended up with the final shot attempt of the game. However, Ryan Sabol came up short on a potential game-winner from the right corner over the out-stretched arms of Suder, allowing the Red and White to escape with a 73-71 victory.

PAINT BY NUMBERS: The RedHawks consistently got to the rim for layups, especially in the first 10 minutes of the game, and went on to out-score Buffalo 48-28 in points in the paint. According to the official box score, Miami was 24-of-30 on shot attempts in the lane. "It's just having an attack mindset," Skaljac explained. "Not settling, especially early in the shot clock, and looking to get down low."

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS?: Steele has challenged his undefeated team over the past several weeks to improve on the defensive end, and the RedHawks came through Tuesday, holding a Buffalo team that scored 102 points in Millett Hall last month to just 71. The home team missed six of its final seven three-pointers down the stretch to allow Miami to prevail in another close finish.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game the entire way and we had to get stops," Steele said in a postgame interview. "I thought we got timely stops in the last four minutes to be able to come away with a win."

GOING DEEP: 10 players saw the floor for Miami, and the RedHawks outscored Buffalo 16-9 in bench points. Notably, Perry made some big plays at both ends, finishing with six points and four rebounds in just over nine minutes of action.

NEWS AND NOTES: The RedHawks set the program record for most consecutive road wins in a season (9-0)...Skaljac has scored in double figures in eight of his last nine appearances…Despite a back-and-forth game that featured nine lead changes, the RedHawks never trailed by more than two points…Suder has dished out at least eight assists in three of the past four games…Miami extended the longest winning streak in MAC history to 23 games.

'CHALLENGE' ACCEPTED: Miami will take a short break from conference play for a MAC-Sun Belt Challenge game at Marshall this Saturday, Feb. 7. Tip time in Huntington, W.Va. is set for 4 p.m.