Kalamazoo, Mich. — Trey Perry scored on a driving layup with one second left and No. 21 Miami of Ohio extended its season-opening winning streak to 29 games to beat Western Michigan 69-67 on Friday night.
The RedHawks (16-0 Mid-American Conference) are the only undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball. Miami is off to the best start in program history and added to its school record for wins in a season. Miami also boasts the best start and longest winning streak in Mack history.
According to ESPN Research, Miami is just the fourth Division I team in the last 20 years to go undefeated in March. The previous three (2013-14 Wichita State, 2014-15 Kentucky and 2020-21 Gonzaga) were all undefeated in the NCAA Tournament.
Peter Suder scored 18 points for the Redhawks before fouling out with just seven minutes remaining. Elmer Atlasson added 16 points, Perry had 14 and Ian Elmer finished with 10 points.
Jayden Brewer led Western Michigan (10-19, 4-12) with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Justice Williams and EJ Ryans each added 14 points.
Miami is used to close games and won by less than six points for the seventh time this season.
“Our group will be unflappable,” Miami coach Travis Steele said. “It’s calm, cool and collected. It’s too, even the whole time, even in tight moments.”
The Redhawks trailed 30-26 at the half and twice fell behind by eight points early in the second half before tying the score at 49-49 with 11:02 left.
Western Michigan ran off eight straight points for a 57-49 advantage with 8:40 left and a 59-50 lead with 6:38 left before Miami pulled away and took a 66-65 lead on a layup by Antoine Wolfok with 14 seconds left.
Elmer’s free throw with 37 seconds left gave the Redhawks a 67-65 edge, but Western Michigan tied it before Perry scored the winner on Williams’ basket with 11 seconds left.
This report uses information from The Associated Press.
