MIAMI NOTES ...

Basketball faces departing Northern Illinois . . . 
Football adds game at Nebraska

Miami looks to continue its 13-game home court winning streak Tuesday when the RedHawks host Northern Illinois.
It will likely be the last chance for Miami fans to see NIU for a while. Huskie football moves to the Mountain West next year. With a couple exceptions, most other NIU sports will compete in the Horizon League. 

Tuesday will mark the 58th time Miami and Northern Illinois have faced off. The RedHawks head into this game leading the series 36-21. Miami leads the series in Oxford 24-6.
For what its worth, NIU has been VERY competitive in recent contests. It fell to Ball State in overtime Feb. 15 and stayed with then-MAC-undefeated Akron before falling 73-63. 
Last Saturday, NIU led Eastern Michigan 76-69 with 1:21 to go, but several Huskie turnovers helped the visitors score 10 straight points. Jalen Terry's arcing 3-point shot beat the buzzer for a 79-76 EMU win. 

The 2024-25 season will be . . . 

---

​. . . one to forget for Northern Illinois (5-22, 1-13 MAC) . Not only do the Huskies have just five wins on the season, they have posted just one MAC win. That came against Ball State back on Jan. 25. Since that time Northern Illinois has lost eight straight. 

Sophomore guard Quentin Jones led the Huskies with 20 points. James Dent Jr. was right behind with 19 points, while Tsvet Sotirov scored 17 points while hitting 6 of 7 from the field and 5 of 6 from beyond the arc. 

NIU shot 55.6 percent from beyond the arc Sotirov and Dent contributed five apiece on a combined 15 shots. However, the Huskies went 11 of 17 at the free throw line. 

MORE ON THE HUSKIES . . . 
• Jones leads all MAC scorers with an average of 17.1 ppg. 
• As a team, the Huskies are last in scoring (71.5 ppg). They are eighth in scoring defense (76.7 ppg). 
• Northern Illinois is last in field goal percentage (41.3%) and eighth in 3-point goal percentage (33.6%). Still, they are third in 3-point goals made (9.4 per game).

ABOUT MIAMI 
• The RedHawks have won 13 straight at home. Their only loss at Millett Hall this season was an 81-68 loss to Wright State in the home opener back on Nov. 9. 
MU has two home and two away games left in the regular season. Miami plays at Ohio Saturday and Buffalo next Tuesday. The regular season finale is against Ball State in Oxford March 7 (a Friday!!). 
• MU defeated Northern Illinois 84-69 back on Jan. 14. The RedHawks led 56-55 with 13:49 to play but pulled away with a 13-2 run before winning by 15. 
• Brant Byers (17) led five MU players in double figures. Byers connected on five of seven threes. Jones tallied 21 for NIU. 
• Miami out-rebounded the Huskies 39-26. 
• The RedHawks are coming off a 96-92 overtime win over Kent State. That gave Miami its first 20-win season since 1998-99. 
• Peter Suder led Miami with a game-high 22 points and recorded the 1,000th point of his career. Three other RedHawks finished the game in double figures, including Eian Elmer (17), Brant Byers (12) and Antwone Woolfolk (11). Miami went 24-of-29 from the charity stripe, including Suder's 10-of-10 mark at the free throw line. Miami shot over 50% from the field for the 11th time this season. The RedHawks made at least 50% of their shots from behind the three-point line for the fifth time this season.
• The RedHawks rank sixth nationally in three-point percentage (.395), 10th in effective field goal percentage (.571), 16th in threes per game (10.4), 23rd in turnovers forced per game (14.89), 24th in field goal percentage (.485), 31st in scoring offense (81.4) and 40th in turnover margin (2.7). Miami also leads the MAC in six statistical categories, including steals per game (8.3).

FOOTBALL
Miami football has announced the RedHawks will play at the University of Nebraska on Sept. 11, 2027. It will be the first meeting between the two schools.
 The contest with Nebraska now rounds out Miami's 2027 non-conference schedule which includes trips to Purdue (Sept. 18) and Western Kentucky (Sept. 25) and a home contest versus Stonehill (Sept. 4).

CRADLE OF COACHES 
Miami honored its Cradle of Coaches Association Class of 2025 last weekend
The five new members were honored at intermission during the RedHawks men's basketball game against Kent State Friday. 

Left to right: Wendy Sweney (tennis), Iñako Puzo (field hockey), Sean Payton (football), Ashley Korn for Vicki Korn (synchronized skating), Carolyn Condit (volleyball). (Picture: MVSmith/MRO)