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High-powered No. 25 Miami (Ohio) has been pushed to the brink in its last two games but has answered the bell each time in overtime.
The RedHawks will meet their latest challenge when they host Massachusetts in a Mid-American Conference contest Tuesday night in Oxford, Ohio. Miami entered the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Jan. 19 for the first time since Feb. 15, 1999.
Thanks to overtime wins against Buffalo at home and Kent State on the road, Miami (16-3, 7-1 MAC) has won a season-high five straight games.
UMass (11-8, 4-4 MAC) is coming off a dramatic 68-67 win at Buffalo on Friday.
Miami coach Amanda Steele has faced Massachusetts coach Frank Martin before. “I’ve coached against Frank Martin (twice) in my career, lost both times, unfortunatly, as an assistant at Xavier,” Steele said. “One of the best games I’ve ever been a part of was in the Sweet 16 out in Utah, an elite game.” Martin’s Kansas State squad won in double-overtime in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Salt Lake City.
“I’ve coached against Frank Martin (twice) in my career, lost both times, unfortunately, as an assistant at Xavier,” Steele said. “One of the best games I’ve ever been a part of was in the Sweet 16 out in Utah, an elite game.
“But his teams always play really, really, really hard, and they are physical. they take on his personality, tough, nasty. They’re athletic. They try to turn you over.”
UMass is coming off a dramatic 68-67 win at Buffalo on Friday when guard Marcus banks Jr. scored a team-high 19 points and knocked down four 3-pointers. Guard Leonardo Bettiol followed with 16 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field.
“We got a bunch of guys that care,” Minutemen forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford said, per MassLive.com. “It might not be pretty,but we bought in to the right type of stuff. Head down in practice and that’s just the recipe. You got to keep listening and trusting Coach and go win the game, go make the tough plays at the end of the game.”
Bettiol leads UMass in scoring at 17.1 points per game and Banks is second at 16.2. Senior hankins-Sanford registered his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 boards against Buffalo.
Since the loss of Miami starting point guard Evan Ipsaro to a torn ACL on Dec.20, Luke Skaljac and Peter Suder have helped to pick up the slack for the RedHawks. Suder hit the game-winning three against Buffalo in the last seconds of overtime on Jan. 17 as the team won its 26th straight at home.
