After Latest Thriller at Millett Hall, Travis Steele Has RedHawks On A Special Path ‘Can We Be at Our Best in March?’

OXFORD, Ohio — Travis Steele is enjoying everything about his coaching rebirth in Oxford. Winning every game you coach doesn’t hurt, either.

Steele’s magical Miami RedHawks improved to 21-0 Tuesday night with another nail-biter, this time 86-84 over UMass at the madhouse known as Millett Hall. The win, coupled with Nebraska’s loss at Michigan, means Steele’s 24th-ranked team joins No. 1 Arizona as the only two remaining unbeaten teams in all of Division I college basketball.

“I can probably care less about the streak, more just about trajectory,” Steele told me after another high-wire act. “Can we be at our best in March? But I also understand how special this is for our university, for our men’s basketball program and our players. It’s all about our players. We’ve got great players. We got great human beings in our program, and I’m excited for them to be able to get the exposure that they deserve.”

They were down one of those players Tuesday night, which made the win that much sweeter. In addition to playing their ninth game without starting point guard Evan Ipsaro, the RedHawks also played Tuesday without Luke Skaljac, out with an illness. It was Skaljac who hit a running bank shot seven days earlier to force overtime at Kent State, a game Miami won, 107-101, in overtime.

Picking up the slack was Eian Elmer. The talented wing was on fire in the first half and finished the game with a career-high 30 points, the second straight game he’s posted a career best in scoring. Peter Suder, who had the game-winner against Buffalo on Jan. 17, added 13 points and nine assists and freshman Justin Kirby also scored 13 as the RedHawks continue to show the kind of character needed to keep their historic run going.

“He’s an incredible playmaker, and that’s what you know number one. When we brought him in here, Pete, I knew he was gonna be the ultimate competitor,” Steele said. “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever been around. He can do whatever the game tells him. He does whatever the game tells him to do, there’s gonna be games where he has 37 (vs. Buffalo) and there’s gonna be games where he has nine assists. There’s gonna be games where he has 27 he doesn’t care, and so he just does whatever the game tells him do.

“He’s an elite pick-and-roll creator, creation of shots, whether that’s hitting the roll man, whether that’s hitting a shooter, sprayed out, getting in the paint, finding guys. I mean, he had nine assists, three turnovers tonight. I think we finished with nine turnovers (as a team). We’re down two (point guards) and he’s a big reason for (the low turnover number). Just his experience level, man. He’s never flustered. He’s never flustered. He’s a tremendous playmaker.”

But above all, Steele should be taking a bow for what he’s built in his fourth season at Miami. In his first game at Miami in Nov. 2022, after leaving Xavier, he could literally count the fans in the stands at Millett, a game he lost 78-74 to Evansville. But the man who coached four seasons at Xavier and couldn’t quite get the Musketeers to the NCAA tournament, believed all along he was building something at Miami.

“When we took over three and a half years ago, I still have that picture at home with the Evansville game. We lost that game, by the way, my first game ever here at Miami. I have the picture of the crowd, and just always remind myself of where we were when we first got here,” Steele recalled after his 21st straight win. “And I knew it was going to be a rebuild from a talent perspective, from a culture perspective, once I got here, kind of figured that out as well, and then also was like, man, hey, from just a fan attendance, student interaction, it wasn’t there. There was a disconnect for somehow, some way. And but the Miami students love athletics. They love athletics, right? And I think they crave winning. Our guys have earned this right to have this crowd.”

Not making the NCAA tournament at Xavier was the reason he and the school parted ways after four seasons. Making the NCAA tournament, a path they’re clearly on at Miami, would be reason for a keg party at Miami, which hasn’t tasted the thrill of March Madness since 2007. The expectations are vastly different at the two schools when it comes to college basketball. Steele is trying to change all of that and a historic start to the season goes a long way. Steele got to the brink of 20 wins at Xavier in all three of his non-COVID shortened seasons, but could never get over the hump. He endured his first two losing seasons as a coach in his start at Miami. But in Year 3, Miami won a school-record 25 games but lost in the MAC final to his brother John Groce. He’s already at 21 this year and Steele wants to leave no doubt this season about making a run to the NCAAs.

“We’ve won, we’re ranked and all that stuff,” Steele said. “So I think that’s created a good buzz and excitement. But we want to give the students a great experience, like coming to these type of games. And these will be moments again, the students will remember for the rest of their lives. Our players will remember for the rest of their lives. And that’s what life’s all about. Are again, the experiences that you get, and again to see the crowd that we have. Man. Students were elite. They were allowed. They propelled us. Quite honestly, we were a man, another man down tonight, and I thought our students were the difference in the game.

Miami was playing its first-ever home game at Millett Hall as a nationally ranked team, and its first home game on its Oxford campus as a ranked team since playing Xavier as the No. 12 team in the country on Feb. 25, 1953. A crowd of 9,223 turned out at Millett Hall, which opened in Dec. 1968, to see Miami extend its record home winning streak to 27 games.

UMass raced out to a 22-13 lead thanks to the sharpshooting of guard Marcus Banks. He connected on 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and went 4-of-5 from the field in the opening 20 minutes. His team-leading 13 first-half points helped the Minutemen build a 10-point lead at 45-35 with three minutes left in the half.

UMass maintained control of the game thanks to their work on the glass, out-rebounding Miami 20-12 in the first half.

But Miami recovered just before halftime, going on an 8-2 run to cut UMass lead to four, 47-43, at the break. Elmer kept the RedHawks close, draining 5-of-7 from 3-point range and going 6-of-8 overall from the field on his way to an 18-point first half.

“We got some shots to fall, and thankfully Millett was packed out tonight, so that definitely helped the energy swing our way,” Elmer said.

Miami had three consecutive possessions to tie or take the lead and each time they came away with empty possessions before Daniel Hankins-Sanford drained a three from the right wing with 11:45 to put UMass up five, 60-55.

Miami finally drew even, 65-65, on a pair of Peter Suder free throws with 9:26 left in the second half. After a UMass response, Elmer drilled a left wing three with 8:35 remaining to give Miami its first lead since 2-0. Banks drained a turnaround with 4:35 left to give UMass its last lead.

Antwone Woolfork finished off a three-point play with 4:20 left to put Miami up for good, 77-75. But one thing that the last two weeks have taught the Miami community is that you have to go through nail-biting nerves to get to the promised land.

Leonardo Bettiol led UMass with 22 while Marcus Banks finished with 18 points for the Minutemen before he fouled out with 1:26 remaining. K’Jei Parker had a chance to give UMass the lead with 25 seconds remaining but his three was short. Elmer then converted a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 85-81. Parker was fouled taking a three and made all three free throws to cut the lead to one before Peter Suder converted one of two free throws with 4.3 seconds left and Isaiah Placide’s half-court heave fell short at the final buzzer.

Another late escape by Miami and another brick of the foundation laid by Steele.