The Miami University men’s and women’s basketball teams combined for 42 wins during the 2024-25 regular season, setting a record for the program.
Starting on March 13, the men’s team will have a chance to take its first postseason wins under third-year head coach Travis Steele.
The men’s team (23-8, 14-4 in conference play) enters Rocket Mortgage Arena for its first game of the tournament against the No. 7 Eastern Michigan University Eagles (16-15, 9-9 in conference play).
The RedHawks wrapped up a historic 2024-25 campaign with their 15th-straight home win on March 7 against the Ball State University Cardinals, setting a program record for consecutive home wins.
Under Steele, Miami had its best regular-season record since 1998-99, when the RedHawks finished 24-8 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
“It’s Christmas for any basketball fans or players or coaches,” Steele said. “I told our guys that we put ourselves in a good position, now we got to take advantage of the advantage that we’ve created.”
The RedHawks enter the postseason boasting eight players who average at least six points per game. Junior guard Peter Suder and redshirt sophomore wing Kam Craft lead the way averaging 13.3 and 13.2 points, respectively.
The transfers and new RedHawks on the team made their impact known all season, but especially in MAC play. Eight players on the roster never played at Miami before this season, but Steele and his coaching staff worked to create what he calls the “deepest team in the league.”
“It’s strength in numbers for us,” Steele said. “It’s different guys, different nights. Luke Skaljac can go for 20, Brant Byers can go for 20, Reece Potter can go for 20, Evan Ipsaro can go for 20. You’ve got all these guys, [and] I think that makes it really hard to prepare for [us].”
Brant Byers, in particular, evolved into one of Miami’s best scorers off the bench. After starting the season with two double-digit performances, the redshirt first-year wing scored 10 or more points in 11 games against conference opponents, including a season-high 22 points against the Northern Illinois University Huskies on Feb. 25.
Byers averages 8.7 points, the fourth-highest on the team, but he also recorded 71 defensive rebounds, 18 steals and 10 blocks in the regular season.
“He impacts the game in a lot of ways,” Steele said. “A lot of people talk about his shooting – as they should, he’s one of the best shooters, in my opinion, in the country – but he cuts, he rebounds [and] he’s tough. He does a lot of different things out there.”
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The RedHawks split two games with the Eagles, taking the first matchup 89-80 but dropping the last one 76-66.
In their loss on Feb. 18, the RedHawks allowed senior forward Da’Sean Nelson and senior guard Jalen Terry to put up 25 and 24 points, respectively. Both players average over 16 points per game and rank top five in the MAC.
Miami stood out for all the wrong reasons in that game. The team that currently ranks seventh in the NCAA for 3-point percentage (39.4%) only sank six shots from deep on 26 attempts (23.1%), Miami’s third-lowest single-game percentage of the season.
The RedHawks will need to emulate their first performance against the Eagles in this third matchup. When Miami welcomed Eastern Michigan to Millett Hall on Jan. 28, six RedHawks scored at least 10 points. Junior forward Antwone Woolfolk contributed a season-high 21 points.
A win against the Eagles will hand Steele his first postseason victory with the RedHawks. The team made the MAC tournament in his first two years, but the RedHawks exited in the first round against Toledo in 2023 and the University of Akron Zips in 2024.
While Steele has experience at the tournament, Miami holds one of the youngest rosters in college basketball with three first years and eight sophomores. Combined with four transfers who have never played in the MAC, Steele understands that Cleveland will be a new experience but says the team is still excited.
“They don’t know what they don’t know,” Steele said. “They’re excited. Their excitement level is extremely high, which I think that is maybe the most important thing at this time of the year. That first game [against] Eastern Michigan is our absolute Super Bowl. We got to go all in on it.”
If the RedHawks progress to the second round, they will face either the No. 3 Golden Flashes or the No. 6 Broncos. Miami went 1-1 against Western Michigan this season, and a memorable overtime victory against Kent State on Feb. 21 secured the RedHawks’ spot in Cleveland.
As for the other teams in the bracket, Miami’s toughest opponent lies in the No. 1 Zips. Akron finished the regular season with just one loss in MAC play, and the Zips snapped Miami’s eight-game winning streak in January with a 27-point win.
But before anything else, the RedHawks will need to defeat the Eagles, whom they hold a 56-30 record against. Tipoff is scheduled for approximately 4:30 p.m. on March 13.
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