RedHawks' sharp shooting and late steal end SMU's NCAA dreams. Miami (OH) advances, SMU heads home after a hard-fought battle.
The RedHawks will continue to dance this month, while the SMU Mustangs will head home after a disappointing 89-79 loss to Miami (OH) in Dayton on Wednesday night in the First Four game ahead of Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament.
Miami (OH) (32-1) will move on to face No. 6 Tennessee on Friday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
It was a game that the Mustangs (20-14) seemingly played from behind for the entire contest, trailing 43-34 at the half and going down as many as 14 points in the second half after sharp 3-point shooting from the RedHawks, who nailed 39 percent of their attempts from behind the arc.
Miami (OH) found all the space with proper ball movement all night, with little resistance from the SMU defense.
Eian Elmer was the star for Miami (OH) with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field while going 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
As has been the case all season, Andy Enfield's group refused to go down easy, closing the score to 83-76 with possession with just 1:10 left. But a steal by Miami (OH) stole the inbounds pass and scored to secure the win down the stretch.
The RedHawks were too much defensively, holding SMU to 48 percent from the field and just 22 percent from 3.
Jaden Toombs led all Mustangs with 20 points in 35 minutes, Jaron Pierre Jr. chipped in 18 and Boopie Miller offered 15.
Toombs also paced SMU with 11 rebounds, including eight on the defensive side of the court. Pierre Jr. had three steals on the night.
Enfield and the Mustangs will wonder "what might've been" had star B.J. Edwards not gone down in February with an injury.
That’s the story hanging over this game.
Edwards was one of the glue guys for the Mustangs all season, the kind of player who impacts winning even when he isn’t dominating the box score.
It'll be a long trip home for SMU, who will have plenty of time to discuss what went wrong on Wednesday night, as the "Cinderella story" RedHawks make the trip to Philly.
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