Led by a career-high 19 points from Luke Skaljac, the Miami RedHawks handled Buffalo on Tuesday night to extend their historic winning streak to 23 games. The victory cemented the longest run in Mid-American Conference history and maintained Miami’s status as the owner of the longest active winning streak in Division I men’s basketball.
The sophomore guard scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half to help the RedHawks extend their streak in the narrow 73-71 victory. Brant Byers added 11 points, and senior guard Peter Suder added another 10 with eight assists.
“We keep finding ways to win, and tonight was just another example of that,” Skaljac said, via the team’s website.
“I know we can score, we’re one of the best offensive teams in the country,” head coach Travis Steele added, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s more about our defense, that’s my whole focus right now.”
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Calling this season’s run historic would be an understatement even for a program not typically recognized as a “powerhouse” in men’s basketball. The RedHawks went unranked for more than two decades before re-entering the rankings in the top 25 last month for the first time since 1999. They are one of only two teams in Division I to remain undefeated, and they are one win ahead of No. 1 ranked Arizona’s streak of 22.
The RedHawks are currently the No. 23 ranked team and are on the verge of the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007. Unlike that run, which ended in the first round, Miami has had two other notable periods – a Sweet 16 appearance in 1999 led by Wally Szczerbiak and three straight NCAA bids from 1984-86 led by the school’s all-time leading scorer and five-time NBA champion Ron Harper.
One Miami alum believes that this year’s run is serving as a resurgence of the Harper days, one he remembers very well.
“We would go over on Saturday afternoon and Millett Hall would be absolutely electric,” Fox News Chief Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram told Fox News Digital. “They have never before or since seen a player like Ron Harper.”
Pergram, who is from Jacksonburg, Ohio, and earned both his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Miami University, recalled the excitement of watching basketball games at Millett Hall as a student at Edgewood High School in Trenton, Ohio.
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“And yes, Wally Szczerbiak was really good – played in the NBA, had a long career, got them to the Sweet 16, but the Harper days were exceptional. He was clearly the best player in the MAC and one of the best players in the country. And when he got into the NBA, he had the hardware to show for it.”
Pergram recalled the days when Millett Hall was packed, but the program fell on hard times over the past two decades. Attending a game in early January a few years ago, he remembered that “there weren’t 200 people there,” most of whom he inferred were from nearby Eaton High School based on the school colors they wore.
But the tides are turning. The program set an attendance record in last week’s win over Northern Illinois with 10,640. Ticket sales for home games appear to be trending in the same direction.
“Everybody’s paying attention,” Pergram said, remembering his days at a high school summer basketball camp at Miami when Harper served as the resident assistant in his dorm following a breakout freshman season. “To look back, it’s just amazing to see Miami basketball rise to these levels again, after that excitement that they had in the mid-1980s, when he was there.”
The debate around Miami’s schedule strength has surrounded its undefeated run. A win in the conference tournament would secure the RedHawks’ spot in the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, the Selection Committee will determine Miami’s future.
The RedHawks continue their historic season with a game at Marshall on Saturday.
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