Miami men’s basketball’s magical season comes to a close with loss to Tennessee

PHILADELPHIA — The Miami University RedHawks men’s basketball team (32-2) took its second and final defeat of the 2025-26 season, losing 78-56 to the University of Tennessee Volunteers (23-11). The loss ends Miami’s journey in March Madness. The RedHawks played their last game of the season at Xfinity Mobile Arena on March 20.

Senior guard Peter Suder’s 27 points would be the only double-digit performance from the RedHawks. Redshirt sophomore wing Brant Byers followed with nine points, and the trio of junior wing Eian Elmer, redshirt sophomore guard Luke Skaljac and freshman guard Trey Perry each added four points.

Tennessee utilized a 29-point performance from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie to carry the Volunteers into the second round of the NCAA tournament. Redshirt sophomore forward J.P. Estrella and senior forward Felix Okpara joined him in the double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

While Miami dominated from behind the arc in its First Four game against Southern Methodist University, the RedHawks were unusually inaccurate from range, shooting 7-29 (24.1%) as a team, their third-worst performance of the season. Miami shot 19-54 (35.2%) from the field, its lowest accuracy of the season.

“I know we scored a little bit there at the very beginning of the game, but it was a physical game,” head coach Travis Steele said. “On the other end, obviously Gillespie was just unbelievable, played like a high-level player. We let him get going from three early … but he’s hard because you got to keep him out of the paint too. They send him off a lot of offscreens, and Coach Barnes puts him in a really good position to be successful.”

Byers and Suder sank two triples in the early minutes, but throughout the rest of the half, Miami’s 3-pointers were not falling. Meanwhile, Gillespie caught fire from the field while the Volunteers guarded the RedHawks closely. Tennessee’s 3-pointers came in bunches; the team shot 45% from behind the arc.

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The Volunteers wanted to play a physical style of basketball that Miami struggled to counter all game. Tennessee finished the game with 40 points in the paint to Miami’s 16, and the Volunteers caught 42 rebounds to the RedHawks’ 25.

Miami could not get its offense rolling in the first half despite Suder scoring 16 points. Gillespie’s 22 points kept Tennessee up 51-32 at the break.

The RedHawks’ struggles continued into the second half as Tennessee cushioned its advantage. Miami was plagued by a combination of foul trouble and poor shooting that derailed attempts to stretch runs together.

The Volunteers proved to be too much for the RedHawks, ending their magical season in the Round of 64 by a score of 78-56.

Gillespie, who finished the game with 29 points, nine assists and three steals, dominated the game from start to finish. Estrella finished the game with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Suder would have a terrific final outing in a Miami uniform, finishing with 27 points. In the postgame press conference, he reflected on his two years with the RedHawks and what contributed to the program’s recent revival.

“This loss doesn’t take away from what we’ve done all year,” Suder said. “It’s history at the end of the day. Our culture, our connectivity, the brotherhood we have: We’re best friends off the court. I think it shows when we play. It’s been such a fun year with this group.”

Miami will head back to Oxford with a 32-2 final record, its best season in program history. The Volunteers will advance to the Round of 32 against the University of Virginia on March 22.

Steele echoed Suder’s sentiment about the program and highlighted the building blocks and progress the team makes every day as a testament to what Miami can do going forward.

“Obviously very proud of our guys,” Steele said. “I’m really, really happy they were able to experience all this [with] the rebuild. They’ve seen it from literally the ground up … I’m proud that they were able to experience all that. The thing that I think gets lost a lot of times is everybody sees the result, but the journey, the day-to-day, is even better. I couldn’t be more proud of the guys that we have in our locker room.”

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