30-0! Miami Nets 22nd MAC Title With Win Over Toledo

Tuesday, March 3

Oxford, Ohio

7 p.m.

Miami University

30-0,17-0MAC

Toledo

16-14,10-7MAC

Toledo

Miami (OH)

Photo by: Jeffrey Sabo

30-0! Miami Nets 22nd MAC Title With Win Over Toledo

3/3/2026 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

OXFORD, Ohio— It was a celebration 21 years in the making, and no one wanted to leave afterward.

The final buzzer sounded.

The fans erupted.

The trophy was presented.

The confetti fell.

(And wow, was there a lot of confetti.)

The net was cut down, piece by piece.

And the No. 19 Miami University men's basketball team officially claimed its 22nd all-time MAC championship after a thrilling 74-72 win over Toledo in front of a sellout crowd Tuesday night.

When Peter Suder, the RedHawks' leading scorer with 19 points, finally made it to the postgame press conference after the building had mostly emptied out, he arrived at the podium with a well-deserved necklace: The lion's share of the net that had previously hung from the rim at the south end of Millett Hall.

"That's the beauty of basketball: When you're having fun with the right group of guys, you can become unbeatable," he told reporters.

"It's a surreal moment, obviously," Suder added when asked to reflect on the emotions that come with winning a title, especially with a couple dozen family members in attendance.

"They've been with me through it all, and I'm just super-happy they were there tonight and soaked in the moment as well."

The moment that most fans will remember from an unforgettable night is the final one, as a game Miami (30-0, 17-0 MAC) led from start to finish came down to literally the last tenth of a second on the clock.

Toledo (16-14, 10-7 MAC) rebounded a missed free throw with four seconds remaining in a two-point game and raced forward into the front court, but encountered a defense that wouldn't yield an inch.

Eian Elmer defended the ball, Antwone Woolfolk stepped up to stop a drive, Brant Byers reached in to help, and Luke Skaljac went straight up and down to force a turnover and come up with a steal with 0:00.1 remaining in the game.

"I have so much trust in Eian, Antwone, Brant, Luke, [or] whoever's on the court to get a big stop in those big moments," said Suder, who was denying a potential pass to the far corner on the pivotal defensive possession.

Head coach Travis Steele said his team, which improved to 7-0 in one-possession contests this year, put together a 'bend-but-don't-break' game. The result was a victory that 10,640 fans in Millett Hall —and countless more around the country and globe who bleed Red and White— will never forget.

"I'm happy for our guys, happy for our staff…just really proud of them…we've come a long way," Steele said after Miami had finally secured its first regular-season championship since 2005.

"There's a proud tradition here. We're the all-time winningest program in the MAC; it just had not been done in a long time, so it's been a lot of fun. It's all about our players: I'm happy for them, happy they're getting to experience this tonight.

"They'll have that memory with them for the rest of their lives, man. [You] can't take that away from them."

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Five different RedHawks came up with baskets in the first four minutes of the game, sparking Miami to an early 11-2 lead on a Trey Perry pull-up jumper. A Justin Kirby triple off an Elmer drive and kick made it 14-6 with 14:27 to play in the half. Byers drained a three to give Miami its first double-digit lead at 20-8, and Suder knocked down a three-pointer while getting fouled to stretch the margin to 23-10. After a three-point play from Woolfolk, Skaljac hit two long jumpers to match Miami's biggest advantage of the half at 31-18.
The Rockets answered back with a 12-0 spurt to trim the lead, but Byers stopped the run with a right-wing three to make it 35-30. A no-look pass from Skaljac to Suder set up a three-pointer with just over a minute to play as Miami took a 38-32 lead. Suder closed the half with a tough driving layup to put the RedHawks on top 40-35 at intermission.
Miami made enough plays early in the second half to keep the Rockets at bay, taking a 46-43 lead on an Almar Atlason dunk and then stretching the margin to 54-45 after triples from Suder and Byers. Toledo closed within a single point at 56-55 and could have taken its first lead of the game, but Elmer blocked a shot at one end of the floor (one of his season-high four rejections) and promptly buried a three at the other to make it 59-55 with 8:15 remaining. "That was a huge play by Eian," Steele said. "He impacts winning; that's what great players do, not just all scoring…he rebounds, he defends, he can score, he can shoot, he can do a lot of things…if he's not an All-Conference player, that's insane."
Perhaps the most improbable offensive sequence of the night came two minutes later, as a hustle play from Skaljac getting on the floor set up a desperation one-legged floater by Suder to beat the shot clock. That brought the crowd to life and staked Miami to a 63-58 lead with 5:38 to play. "Sometimes you get lucky," Suder laughed later. "Sometimes it's your night. Great effort by Luke to get on that loose ball – that was a huge turning point for us."
Down the stretch, Woolfolk scored a pick-and-roll layup and then hit from behind the arc to give Miami a 68-62 lead, but the visitors answered back again and pulled within 72-70 in the final minute. Miami drew up a play in the ensuing timeout that worked to perfection, with Skaljac feeding Woolfolk a bounce pass for a right-handed layup to make it 74-70 with 40 seconds to go. Leading 74-72, the RedHawks had a chance to make it a two-possession game at the foul line, but after a miss, Toledo came the other way with a chance to win it. Miami's defense stood tall and forced a turnover in the final second to set off a raucous celebration as the Red and White clinched at least a share of the conference title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament.

SCREAMING STUDENTS = SIXTH-MAN SUPPORT: Steele and Suder both credited the home crowd for helping push the RedHawks over the finish line in yet another nail-biter. "They have an impact every single night here; they're our sixth man off the court," Suder said. "They're a huge piece to the puzzle of what we've built here."

"This can happen anywhere in the country, but it's happening right here in Oxford," Steele added as he reflected on how far the program has come over the past four years after a fourth-straight home game in front of more than 10,000 fans. "Miami's got a special campus and hopefully we're adding to that and hopefully we're gaining even more exposure for our wonderful university."

LOOK AT LUKE: Skaljac returned to the lineup after missing the previous game due to injury and collected 11 points on 57% shooting while playing nearly 29 minutes. "I'm really proud of Luke for playing," said Steele. "He's not 100%, but he's playing; he wants to be out there with his brothers.

"He left it all out there."

STRETCHING STREAKS: Miami finished off a perfect season at Millett Hall, winning its 31st-straight home game. The RedHawks also became the first team in Mid-American Conference history to win 17 games in a row. Miami also became just the fourth team this century to start a season 30-0, joining 2013-14 Wichita State, 2014-15 Kentucky and 2020-21 Gonzaga.

CLIMBING THE LADDER: As each RedHawk took his turn cutting down a sliver of the net postgame, Suder predictably drew a loud ovation when he began to climb the ladder. However, it's possible the biggest cheers were for a different Miami guard, albeit one in street clothes: Evan Ipsaro, who suffered a season-ending injury in the MAC opener. "I know he's not playing," Steele explained, "[but] I told Evan when we were cutting down the nets: To lose him when we lost him, not many teams would be able to be as good as we are with losing him.

"He's a stud. He's a monster. And he's just as big a part as Peter, as Antwone. Even though he's not out there right now, his leadership is critical to the success of our team. Same with Eian: Those three guys were voted as captains, [and] player-led teams are way better than coach-led teams."

CHECK, PLEASE: While Steele's team certainly celebrated winning a championship tonight ('This is a big deal!'), the head coach said he would probably only let himself enjoy it for the drive home before turning the page to Ohio. "We've got to move on quick; we've still got a lot of season left," he pointed out. Miami will take on the Bobcats in Athens Friday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN2 with a perfect regular season on the line. "This is awesome and I'm happy for our guys: One of our goals that we had the beginning of the year was to win the regular-season title," Steele commented. "Check. Now I want to finish this season undefeated. I want to win at Ohio; that's a rivalry game…and then can we go win the MAC Tournament up in Cleveland?

"That is the goal. We want to leave absolutely no doubt."

Miami will be the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio next week; tickets to the March 12 quarterfinal are available here.