UMass Hands No. 20 Miami First Loss of Season

Thursday, March 12

Cleveland, Ohio

11 a.m.

Miami University

31-1,18-0MAC

Massachusetts

17-15,7-11MAC

Massachusetts

Miami (OH)

Photo by: Ricardo Trevino

UMass Hands No. 20 Miami First Loss of Season

3/12/2026 9:37:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio– 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 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.

UMass 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.

"We've got to rebound better," said senior guard Peter Suder. "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."

Head coach Travis Steele 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.

"We always go back to watch the film; we'll break it down just like we always do…[we'll be] off tomorrow, and back at it Saturday trying to figure out ways to get better.

"There's still a lot of season left. Can we continue to improve? I think that's what the great teams do."

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.

"Our guys have earned the right, in my opinion, to play in the NCAA Tournament," Steele said.

How it Happened:

Two early assists from Luke Skaljac to Antwone Woolfolk inside set the tone for Miami offensively, and a big-time rebound and putback by Eian Elmer pulled the Red and White within 8-6 at the 16:40 mark. Byers knocked down Miami's first three-pointer of the day to make it 11-all with 13:56 remaining. Justin Kirby 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.
A 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.
Miami 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 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.
Miami 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 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

MAN 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.

Steele said the RedHawks' senior big man was a difference-maker offensively, whether he was taking shots or setting up attempts for his teammates.

"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.

"I thought Antwone put a lot of pressure on that rim – 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…8-of-15 from three [after halftime].

"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."

IT'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 Perry pointed out how different of a feeling that was for the RedHawks, and for him specifically as a freshman: "It hurts obviously, being my first collegiate loss, [after] our success in the regular season," Perry said.

HANDING 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.

SELECTION 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.