Miami of Ohio Survives OT in Athens to Complete 31-0 Regular Season and Lock Up Top MAC Seed

Miami (Ohio) spent the last month hearing the same question in different forms: how long can this keep going?

The answer, at least through the end of the regular season, is all the way.

No. 19 Miami (Ohio) finished the 2025–26 regular season unbeaten after a 110-108 overtime win over rival Ohio on Friday night at the Convocation Center, closing at 31-0 overall and 18-0 in Mid-American Conference play.

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The win did not come quietly. Eian Elmer posted a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Peter Suder scored five of his 13 points in overtime. Trey Perry added 21 points off the bench and Brant Byers scored 15 as Miami held off an Ohio team that hit 14 three-pointers and pushed the game into the kind of finish that usually belongs on a rivalry highlight reel.

Ohio nearly became the roadblock to history behind Jackson Paveletzke’s career-high 37 points, plus 30 points from Javan Simmons and 20 from Aidan Hadaway. The Bobcats entered the night 15-16 overall and 9-9 in the MAC and had lost three straight to close the regular season.

Miami’s overtime execution was the difference. Trailing by one with 12 seconds left in overtime, Suder sank two free throws to put the RedHawks ahead 109-108. After Ohio missed at the rim, Justin Kirby hit one of two free throws with four seconds remaining to extend the margin to two. Paveletzke’s three-point attempt at the horn missed, and Miami’s perfect season survived another scare.

“All I was thinking was, ‘Don’t go in,’” Suder said of Ohio’s final shot. “He had two pretty good looks to put it away. We were fortunate it didn’t go in.”

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The setting mattered. Miami had not won in Athens since Jan. 9, 2011, and the win ended a 14-game losing streak in Athens, turning the final night of the regular season into both a rivalry breakthrough and a history marker.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Suder said. “I’ve never felt like this, to be honest. Thirty-one and 0 is insane.”

Perry, who came off the bench for 21 points, framed the game as a test meant to sharpen the group before March. “It feels unbelievable,” Perry said. “Throughout the whole year we’ve been tested. We’ve been ready for this. This is a big test for us, and it’s important to have a game like this right before the MAC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.”

For Miami, Friday’s win brought multiple milestones at once. The RedHawks secured the program’s 1,500th all-time win and became the first MAC school to finish the regular season undefeated in conference play. They also became the third Division I team to enter a conference tournament at 31-0, joining Wichita State (2013–14) and Kentucky (2014–15).

The undefeated finish also locked in the No. 1 seed for the MAC Tournament. Miami’s quarterfinal is scheduled for Thursday, March 12 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

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