Train Keeps Rolling: No. 23 RedHawks Pull Away from Ohio, 90-74, behind Brant Byers (21 pts), Pete Suder (20 pts), Move To 25-0

OXFORD, Ohio — Miami head coach Travis Steele knows everything in life is more fun when you win.

And the RedHawks continue to do nothing but win and have fun in this incredible 2025-26 Miami basketball season in Oxford.

Brant Byers scored 21 and Peter Suder added 20 as No. 23 Miami remained the nation’s only unbeaten team with a 90-74 win over archrival Ohio Friday night in Mid-American play in Oxford, Ohio.

Byers was 13-of-16 from the free throw line while Eian Elmer added 15 for Miami (25-0, 12-0), which took the lead for good in the game’s first three minutes and never trailed the rest of the way. The 25-game win streak is the longest in the country to start a season since Gonzaga went 31-0 before losing the national championship in the 2020-21 season.

After Friday’s game, Steele noted how much fun his team is having playing for one another. Miami, which shot 51.7% from the field, also ran its home court win streak to a school-record 29 games before a record crowd of 10,640 inside a jam-packed Millett Hall. It was the second straight home game Miami set a new attendance record for the on-campus arena, which opened in 1968.

Miami already has set Mid-American Conference records for the best start and the longest winning streak, breaking the 21-game streak recorded by Kent State in the 2001-02 season.

Jackson Paveletzke had 22 and Javan Simmons scored 12 for the Bobcats (13-13, 7-6), who had three early leads in the opening two minutes. But Miami used an 8-3 spurt to take a 15-10 lead, including a Luke Skaljac layup that broke a 10-10 tie and gave the RedHawks the lead for good with 15:37 left in the first half.

Miami used a 10-2 run over a three-minute stretch late in the first half to take a 41-30 lead on Almar Atlason’s three with 1:58 left before halftime. Miami matched its biggest lead of the half moments later, 43-32, before Ajay Sheldon’s three cut the lead to 43-35 heading into halftime.

Coming out of halftime, Miami picked up the tempo and built the lead to 13 twice. Byers hit five straight free throws, including all three after being fouled while from well beyond the 3-point arc.

Miami used a 9-2 spurt over a three-minute span midway through the second half to turn a 10-point game into a comfortable 65-48 advantage. When Ohio got within 13 at 65-52 but Miami answered with a 14-7 spurt to go up by 20 and coasted to its 25th straight victory.

Next up, the RedHawks wagon pulls into Amherst, Mass. on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET for a showdown against UMass, a team the Redhawks survived, 86-84, on Jan. 27 in Oxford.