By Price Brothers

3/15/2025

CLEVELAND– The Miami University men’s basketball team fell to top-seeded Akron by a score of 76-74 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game Saturday night at Rocket Arena. Peter Suder finished with a game-high 24 points for the RedHawks (25-9), while Evan Ipsaro added 12 points and a game-high six assists. Kam Craft chipped in 11 points. Nate Johnson led Akron with 22 points, including the game-winning shot with two seconds remaining, as the Zips (28-6) secured an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

How it Happened:

• Mekhi Cooper hit a three-pointer on Miami’s opening possession to take a 3-2 lead. Suder converted his first shot attempt to give the RedHawks an 8-6 advantage in what was already the fifth lead change of the game, less than four minutes into the contest. Miami stretched its lead to 13-6 on a Craft triple and an Ipsaro layup. A Brant Byers three from the corner put the Red and White on top 23-15 and sparked a 14-1 Miami run.
• Suder did most of the damage in the ensuing spurt, hitting a trio of shots from downtown in the span of 70 seconds to make it 32-16. He capped the run with a steal and layup to stretch the margin to 18 with 8:13 remaining in the half. Miami continued its hot shooting after Akron pulled within 41-32, as Antwone Woolfolk hit a jump hook late in the shot clock at the 1:30 mark and Craft buried a three in front of the Zips’ bench with 1:09 left. The RedHawks took a 46-34 lead to the locker room.
• Leading 48-39 early in the second half, Miami restored its double-digit lead as Suder hit a mid-range jumper and then buried a three from the right wing to go ahead 53-41. Cooper beat the shot clock buzzer with a triple from the top for a 56-45 margin with 14:27 to go. A Byers backdoor dunk made it 58-47, but Akron quickly pulled within single digits at 61-56 after the under-12 media timeout.
• Miami continued to play with the lead, pushing it back to nine (70-61) on a Luke Skaljac three-pointer with 8:33 to play. However, the Zips wouldn’t go away, responding with a 9-2 spurt to trim the score to 72-70 with 5:14 to go. Neither team scored for nearly four minutes, but Akron grabbed the next four points to go on top with 1:05 showing on the clock. Clutch free throws from Ipsaro pulled the Red and White even on the next possession, and Miami got a key defensive stop to take over with 35 seconds left. On the next trip, the RedHawks ran the clock down but missed a shot with eight seconds left and Akron raced ahead for what would prove to be the game-winning basket.

Quotable:

Head coach Travis Steele on how his team’s MAC Tournament run ended:
“Hopefully we can use this as fuel and motivation to spring us; we’re going to be back in this game next year. Use these moments as a learning experience so when we’re here next time, man, we’re going to seize the moment even that much more.

We’re not a one-hit wonder. We had a good year; [we] didn’t finish the way that we wanted. One possession away – things happen. I can tell you we’re going to be here for a long time, and we’ll be back in this moment next year.”

Steele on how the RedHawks responded and performed after a 102-75 loss to Akron in the teams’ previous meeting:
“I’ve been planning on this game, quite honestly, since January 26. I knew we would be in this game. I knew who we’d be playing, more than likely, in order to win this league…I thought we had a great game plan, and I thought these guys did a great job executing it.”

Evan Ipsaro on how Miami grew from last year to this year:
“I think our maturity picked up a lot. Having five freshmen that played last year, it comes with its ups and downs, but you learn from it…I think it paid off in the end.”

Ipsaro on Peter Suder’s performance:
“He’s going to give it absolutely everything he has every time he’s on the court, and that feeds into everybody else we have. Obviously, we wouldn’t be the same team without Peter; he’s the leader of this team.”

Steele on his program’s record 25 wins and the team’s bright future:
“I will roll with our guys: Win, lose, draw. I love our team. LOVE…

“These are great moments for our guys. I’m just disappointed we couldn’t finish the race. That’s what makes it so painful when you see that finish line and it’s right there. But at the same time, I think, hopefully it motivates our group because we have a young group…we can come back and be in the same situation next year if our response is the right way to what just happened to us.

“There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll be back in this spot. There’s no doubt.”

Game Notes:

• Miami made 15 of its 30 three-point attempts and finished the MAC Tournament with 38 makes from deep, one shy of the tournament record.
• Suder hit a career-high six three-pointers.
• Craft and Suder were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team.
• Cooper, Craft, Suder, and Woolfolk each started their 34th game of the season, tying Nike Sibande’s program record.

Up Next:
Miami will await potential postseason opportunities, with more information to come next week.

COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS