MIAMI NOTES

RedHawks move up to No. 23; Buffalo, Marshall loom

By MIKE SMITH
• Miami moved up a spot to No. 23 in this week's AP Top 25 men's basketball poll. 
The Red and White moved into the national rankings for the first time since Feb. 15, 1999 on Monday, Jan 19. The RedHawks are the first team from the MAC selected in the poll since the 2018-19 Buffalo Bulls. 
Miami also retained its highest ranking of the 2025-26 season on the Mid-Major Top 25® Poll, as Collegeinsider announced its newest poll last Monday, with the RedHawks ranked No. 2 overall. The RedHawks are just one of two teams that are still unbeaten at the Division I level (Arizona). 

• Miami's upcoming game . . .

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. . . with Bowling Green at Millett Hall has been moved from Saturday Feb. 21 to Friday, Feb. 20. The game, which will be aired nationally on the CBS Sports Network, will tip off at 8:30 p.m.

• The RedHawks face a pair of tough challenges this week -- both on the road, but one in conference play and one in non-conference action.
The latter is Saturday in Huntington, West Virginia -- a tough place to win for any opponent across many sports. The Thundering Herd basketball team is 14-8 overall, 6-4 Sun Belt) and 10-2 at home. 
This matchup is part two of the MAC - Sunbelt Challenge. Miami defeated Old Dominion Nov. 3 when SBC teams visited MAC sites. 

• First up this week, however, is Tuesday's rematch of Miami vs Buffalo (6:30 p.m.!!!, Alumni Arena,l Buffalo, ESPN+). They previously met Jan. 17, in Oxford, with MU pulling out a dramatic 105-102 overtime win. Eian Elmer forced the extra period with a buzzer-beating trey made possible by Brant Byers tip-back of a missed Peter Suder shot. Suder, however, hit his own three with one second left in overtime for the win. 
All five Miami starters reached double figures, with Suder's 37 points leading all scorers. 
Sophomore guards Angelo Brizzi (24) and Daniel Freitag (22) combined for 46 points. Brizzi connected on 9 of 12 from the field (4 of 5 treys), while Freitag did most of his damage at the free throw line (14 of 15). 
The setback at Miami was UB's third straight loss, and the Bulls have dropped seven of their last eight. 
As Miami head coach Travis Steele said before the first meeting, limiting Buffalo's guards will be one of the top challenges. Freitag's average of 20.1 ppg is second among all MAC players. Ryan Sabol  (18.5 ppg) is fifth. Brizzi caries an 11.1 ppg average. 
The Bulls average 90.1 ppg and surrender 75.6 ppg. Miami is averaging 93.7 ppg while giving up 74.5. 
Buffalo's last outing was a 95-83 home loss to Ohio. The RedHawks, meanwhile, downed Northern Illinois 85-61 Saturday. That broke a string of three straight close encounters -- Buffalo and Kent State were overtime wins. Miami then defeated UMass by two.