By Cord Rankin
GAME NOTES
https://miamiredhawks.com/documents/2024/12/20/2024-25_MIAMI_Sacred_Heart.pdf
SUNDAY: Miami returns home to Millett Hall where they welcome the Sacred Heart Pioneers Sunday, Dec. 22 at 1 p.m. Heading into this game, the RedHawks rank 26th nationally in turnovers forced per game (16.0).
ABOUT SACRED HEART: Sacred Heart is coming off a 16-16 (10-6 MAAC) season in 2023-24. Head coach Anthony Latina is in his 12th season with the Pioneers. Heading into the 2024-25 season, the MAAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll picked the Pioneers to finish last (13th) in the conference.
Sacred Heart is currently 4-7 (1-1 MAAC), as the team has lost back-to-back games. The Pioneers have three players who average double figures in scoring, which include Tanner Thomas (12.8), Amiri Stewart (12.6), and Anquan Hill (12.0). Stewart has also averaged the most steals per game (2.1), and Hill has recorded the most blocks per game (0.9). Mekhi Conner leads the team in assists with an average of 4.5 per game. Bryce Johnson heads the team in rebounds per game (5.9).
THE SERIES WITH THE PIONEERS: Sunday will mark the first time Miami and Sacred Heart have faced off. It will also be the first occasion that the Pioneers have taken on a MAC school in their program history.
UP NEXT: The RedHawks will prepare for a game on Monday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. against Defiance.
SUDER SUCCESS: This season, Peter Suder is leading the RedHawks in scoring with 15.6 points per game. He has scored in double figures in seven of the ten games played and is shooting 53.2% from the floor (58-of-109) over that span. Suder has led the RedHawks in scoring on five different occasions this season.
POINTS IN THE PAINT: In Miami’s most recent game, the RedHawks scored 50 points in the paint against Vermont. This is the highest total this season and the most since Jan. 9, 2024 at Buffalo where the RedHawks recorded 56 points in the paint.
RECORD SETTERS: Last Sunday against Bethany, Kam Craft scored a career-best 34 points and shot 10-of-16 from the three-point line, tying Jason Stewart (10 vs. Marshall in 2000) for the most made threes in program history. As a team, the RedHawks knocked down a MAC-record (and school record) 22 triples on the day and tied for the second most by any Division I program this season. Miami also had three players score 20 points in a game for the first time since Feb. 23, 2008.
MAC LEADERS: So far this season, Miami ranks among conference leaders in multiple statistical categories:
- Kam Craft ranks ninth in the MAC with 15.3 points per game, 12th in three-point field goal percentage (.413) and has knocked down 3.1 threes per game (third in MAC)
- Mekhi Cooper is fifth in the conference with 1.7 steals per game
- Eian Elmer is 15th in the MAC for his scoring (13.8), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.426), third in steals per game (2.0) and tied for seventh in blocked shots per game (0.8)
- Peter Suder is eighth overall in the MAC for his scoring each game (15.6), seventh in field goal percentage (.532) and seventh in steals per game (1.6)
- Antwone Woolfolk is tied for seventh in blocks per game (0.8), second overall in the MAC with a .610 field goal percentage and he is also seventh in the conference for his rebounding each game (6.3)
COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
