11/7/2022

Evansville Holds Off Miami 78-74

OXFORD, Ohio— Miami’s Anderson Mirambeaux scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half, but Evansville held on to edge the RedHawks 78-74 in the season opener for both teams Monday night.

Morgan Safford added 12 points for Miami (0-1), while Mekhi Lairy chipped in 11 points and a game-high five assists. Kenny Strawbridge scored 23 points to lead Evansville (1-0).

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Billy Smith started the scoring for Miami with a three-pointer from the left wing, giving the RedHawks a 3-2 advantage in the first minute. However, Evansville took advantage of cold Miami shooting in the early going to jump out to a 19-5 lead with 12:10 to play in the half.
• The Red and White rallied from there, putting together a 10-2 run to pull within 21-15 on a Ryan Mabrey three-pointer and Mirambeaux putback.
• Evansville briefly pushed the margin back to double digits at 32-21, but Eli Yofan immediately responded with a triple. The RedHawks battled back to only trail 36-32 at intermission after a pair of Lairy free throws with 2.9 seconds remaining.
• Mirambeaux dominated down low to start the second half, scoring with a post move on the first possession to set the tone. He made three field goals before the first media timeout, although UE still led 47-42.
• The Purple Aces inched back out to a double-digit lead as the half wore on, going ahead 61-50 at the midway point of the period. Miami answered back with a 10-0 run, capped by a triple from Safford, to cut the lead to 61-60 at the eight-minute mark.
• Evansville maintained its advantage down the stretch, going up 75-69 with a minute to play before Mirambeaux cut the lead in half with a clutch three-pointer. However, his game-tying attempt with 15 seconds left was no good, and UE ended up escaping Millett Hall with a 78-74 victory over the RedHawks.

NOTES

• Lairy played a career-high 40 minutes and moved into 27th place on Miami’s career scoring list with 1,193 points.
• Four starters were making their Miami debuts: Mirambeaux, Safford, Mabrey and Smith.
• Yofan and Jaquel Morris also played in their first career games for the Red and White.
• Yofan had a game-high three steals.
• Mirambeaux led Miami with eight rebounds.
• The RedHawks shot 55.6% from the floor in the second half (15-27).
• Miami shot 80% from the foul line (16-20), led by Mirambeaux’s eight makes in 10 attempts.

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11/12/2022

Miami Tops Goshen College 87-44

OXFORD, Ohio— The Miami University men’s basketball team never trailed in giving Travis Steele his first victory with the program as the RedHawks defeated visiting Goshen College (Ind.) 87-44 Saturday afternoon.

Julian Lewis and Billy Smith each posted double-doubles to lead the RedHawks (1-1), who used a 39-4 run beginning late in the first half to seize control. Lewis finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in his Miami debut, while Smith produced 11 points and 12 boards. Mekhi Lairy (13 points) and Eli Yofan (12 points) also scored in double figures for the Red and White.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lairy got the RedHawks going early, scoring the first five points of the game from a three-pointer and free throws. Miami jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Goshen scored its first points of the game to trail by six at 9-3.
• Back-to-back scoring plays from Yofan put the RedHawks up 17-9, but the Maple Leafs went on an 8-0 run later in the period to knot the score at 21-all.
• Miami put together a 17-2 run starting at the end of the first half to break the game open and take a 38-23 lead with 16:17 remaining in the game. Lewis sparked this run, contributing six points.
• From there, it was all RedHawks, as the Red and White rattled off 22 consecutive points for a 60-25 advantage with 11 minutes to play. Smith and Ryan Mabrey combined to drain four three-pointers to ignite the Miami spurt.
• Bryson Tatum scored six points and Yofan added seven more in the final 11 minutes to cap off an 87-44 win. 

NOTES

• The contest was a regular-season game for the RedHawks, but an exhibition for the Maple Leafs.
• Lairy moved into 26th place on the program’s career scoring list (1,206 points) and is now tied for 10th in career games played (120).
• Miami forced 27 Goshen turnovers, the most for a RedHawk opponent since Nov. 17, 2015 (Kenyon, 24).
• The RedHawks recorded 18 steals (second highest in program history), led by Smith with six.
• Ten different Miami players scored.
• Lewis, a transfer from William & Mary, matched his college career high in points and set a new career high in rebounding.

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11/14/2022

Bulldogs Edge Miami 77-70

ATHENS, Ga.— Mekhi Lairy scored a career-high of 34 points to lead all scorers, but Georgia hung on to edge Miami 77-70 Monday night in non-conference action. Billy Smith contributed 12 points for the RedHawks (1-2), while Anderson Mirambeaux added 10. Terry Roberts led the Bulldogs (2-1) with 22 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A pair of three-point field goals gave Georgia an early 10-0 lead over Miami. Julian Lewis converted a layup to score the first points for the RedHawks with 16:40 to play in the half.
• The Bulldogs took a 17-point lead at 27-10 with 9:52 left in the half. The Red and White then stormed back, putting together a 16-6 run to come within 33-26 off of a flurry of scoring from Lairy.
• Miami trailed 38-28 at intermission. Lairy propelled the RedHawk offense as he recorded 15 points in the period, including a trio of three-pointers.
• Georgia stretched the lead back to 15 in the second half at 45-30, but a layup from Mirambeaux and a three-point jumper from Smith brought the RedHawks back within 10 points.
• The RedHawks closed within two at 49-47 after three-point field goals from Lairy and Smith with 11:58 left to play. Georgia answered back, regaining a double-digit advantage at 63-53.
• The RedHawks stayed resilient, with Smith hitting a clutch three-point field goal to bring Miami within 71-66 at the 1:46 mark. The visitors missed a triple with 15 seconds left that would have cut the margin to a single point. Despite the strong closing effort, the Red and White fell 77-70.

NOTES

• Lairy now has 1,240 career points. He is in 21st place on the program’s all-time list after passing Chuck Goodyear, Geovonie McKnight, Rick Goins, Chet Mason, and Danny Horace Monday.
• Lairy surpassed his college career-high in points (34) and produced the first 30-point game for a RedHawk since Mar. 9, 2020 (Nike Sibande, 31)
• Miami went a perfect 12-12 from the free-throw line, led by Lairy’s 10-10 performance.
• Lewis had a game-high six assists in 23 minutes of action.

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11/17/2022

OXFORD, Ohio— The Miami RedHawks lost to Marshall 95-69 Thursday evening in their fourth game of the season.

Anderson Mirambeaux recorded a team-high of 19 points and added an additional six rebounds for Miami (1-3). Julian Lewis contributed 15 points and five rebounds. Andrew Taylor led Marshall (2-1) with 26 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Marshall went on an early 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 12-2. A turnaround jump shot from Lewis ended the run and sparked the RedHawk offense. Miami proceeded to outscore Marshall 10-4; a Lewis assist that Mirambeaux scored off of brought Miami within two points at 16-14.
• With 9:46 left to play in the first half, Mirambeaux knocked down a three-pointer to keep the Red and White within two. Marshall began to separate themselves after hitting a pair of threes. The Thundering Herd led 45-31 entering halftime.
• Mirambeaux and Billy Smith scored two early layups coming out of the intermission. However, the Thundering Herd carried the momentum they built earlier and took their first 20-point lead of the game after a three-point play with 14:14 left to play.
• Lewis and Mirambeaux combined for 14 points in the second half with 10:23 left on the clock. Marshall continued to maintain their high shooting percentage throughout the second half of the game. In the end, the Thundering Herd managed to go 13-26 from the three-point line and took a 95-69 win.

NOTES

• Mirambeaux recorded the team-high of 19 points
• Mekhi Lairy led the team with five assists.
• Wil Stevens played a career-high of nine minutes.

COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS