Miami (OH) men’s basketball defeated Eastern Michigan 81-75 in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, winning their first game in Cleveland since 2010.

The RedHawks dominated the glass, outrebounding Eastern Michigan 45-32.

Miami’s bench also powered the win, outscoring EMU’s bench 35-8.

“Strength in numbers: We pride ourselves in that. We don’t necessarily see us as a bench thing – we think all nine guys could play anywhere in the country,” Miami sophomore center Reece Potter said postgame. “We call ourselves the bench mob, and we know once we come in, we need to provide that juice, provide that energy off the bench, and provide that fire.”

Miami junior guard Peter Suder finished with a career-high 10 assists and a season-high 10 rebounds, falling just three points shy of the second triple-double in RedHawks history.

Suder did all of that while not practicing all week going into the tournament.

“Peter’s such a warrior; he’s going to play. Is he 100 percent? No. [But] he’s going to play,” Miami head coach Travis Steele said postgame. “I told our staff going in: ‘If we can advance, Peter’s going to have a great advantage because he’s had a week off – he’s got fresh legs.’”

Miami redshirt sophomore wing Kam Craft and Eastern Michigan junior guard Christian Henry led all scorers with 24 points apiece. EMU senior guard Jalen Terry also scored 21 points and drained five 3-pointers.

The RedHawks opened the contest red hot, jumping out to an early 9-0 lead.

“We’re one of the best shooting teams in the country, so getting us going [early], I think, really helped us stay in the game,” Craft said postgame.

Eastern Michigan struggled out of the gates, missing their first five shots from the field.

However, the Eagles broke out of the drought, going on a 14-5 run to tie the game at 14 apiece just over halfway through the first half.

Later, an 11-3 run for EMU gave them a 27-24 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the half.

The two teams went into the locker rooms tied at 29 apiece at halftime.

The first 10 minutes of the second half were extremely back-and-forth. There were 12 lead changes and 12 ties throughout the game. Both teams heated up in the final 20 minutes, combining to score 98 points.

A huge 19-4 run for Miami over the span of five minutes gave the RedHawks a 74-61 lead with three minutes remaining.

“I thought in the second half that our offensive execution was tremendous,” Miami head coach Travis Steele said.

However, Eastern Michigan did not go down without a fight, going on a 9-2 run to come within six points with one minute remaining. It would not be enough, as Miami secured the six-point victory and advanced to the second round.

Next, the RedHawks will play Kent State in the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

“We built our team for this moment. The goal was obviously to make it to the NCAA tournament and advance [through] three games in three days here in Cleveland,” Steele said. “We’ve got to be at our best right now, so we play nine guys…it’s different guys, different nights for us. It does keep our guys mentally fresh and physically fresh…We didn’t come here just to win one game. The job’s not finished.”

CLEVELAND — Ball State women’s basketball kicked off its Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament journey March 12 with a first-round victory over Western Michigan. Though Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio is a neutral site, the Ball State bench sat in front of a crowd of Cardinal fans, the Ball State band, Code Red dancers and cheerleaders.

“You’ve got not just 14 players in this thing. You’ve got your administrators, you’ve got your band, you’ve got your cheerleaders, you’ve got your fans [and] a lot of family,” Ball State head coach Brady Sallee said. “It takes it all to have a program like we have, and we’re really proud of our program.

The Cardinals have been in the MAC Tournament every year since the conference decided to only allow the top eight teams in the event in 2020. However, some fans have been to the tournament multiple times and others have made it since it was first held in ‘The Land’ 25 years ago.

“They need our support, both home and away,” Ken Briner said. “…[The teams] like to see that support wherever they’re at.”

Ken — a Ball State graduate — and his wife, Peggy, have been longtime supporters of the athletic program. The Briners Sports Complex in Muncie is named after them. The couple go to every home game for both the men’s and women’s Cardinal basketball teams. To them, it’s important to continue that support in the postseason.

But it’s not just alumni and Ball State fans who are at the tournament supporting the Cardinals. Students are also in the arena. Senior Ball State band member Olivia Sloniker has been to Cleveland the last four years for the event. To her, the best part is supporting this women’s roster.

“Every single year, every game, no matter if it’s a win or loss, the women come over to us and they chat with us and they play the fight song with us,” Sloniker said. “They give us something … We’ve brought posters that we’ve made, we bring our cameras and we do everything we can to support our women.”

The players integrating themselves with the band and other campus groups is something that gives people like Sloniker pride in what she does. To her, the school is being represented by a team full of good people.

“Just today when we walked in, they saw us, and they went, ‘Hey, band.’ And we got so into it,” she said. “Seeing athletes that appreciate the spirit, it makes your life, one, so much easier, two, so much better, and three, so much more enjoyable.”

Ball State Athletics has noticed the support for this team specifically. Director of Athletics Jeff Mitchell was at the opening contest and said the support is because of what the program has become under Sallee and this group.

“It means everything in terms of the type of community and fan support that we’re building here at Ball State,” Mitchell said. “It’s certainly reflective of the type of program that our women’s basketball team has here at Ball State. It’s not a surprise for me to walk into the arena here in Cleveland and see all these Cardinals.

“As I was coming into the arena, I got ‘Chrip, chirps’ and ‘Go Cards.’ It’s awesome and I get excited thinking about it.”

Ball State will play their next game Friday, March 14 at 10 a.m. They will face the No. 4 seed Kent State.

Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.

CLEVELAND – When Ball State women’s head coach, Brady Sallee, is up during the “lonely hours” in his hotel finding it hard to sleep, he is thinking of getting his seniors a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship. 

The seniors have put in the hard work, put in the years and built the program up. This is their last MAC Tournament of their careers. Now, the Cardinals have to get the job done, Sallee said. 

Ball State (25-7, 17-2 MAC) got a step closer to achieving their ultimate goal with a MAC Tournament first round 82-53 win against Western Michigan (12-18, 8-11 MAC). 

Sallee said the Cardinals came out ready to play. After seniors Madelyn Bischoff and Alex Richard started hitting shots early, he said Ball State dug their heels in after that.

Ball State outscored the Broncos 25-15 in the opening frame and shot it at an efficient 64.7 percent from the field. 

“Once we got our run in, that’s when we just flipped the gas pedal,” senior Ally Becki said. 

Becki said there is a little added pressure in realizing it could be the final game of her career in the tournament if Ball State lost, but the first game is always the most nerve-racking. 

“It adds pressure,” senior Marie Kiefer said, agreeing with Becki. “But I think since we’ve been here for so long, we’re experienced, and we know what we have to do.” 

Even if the seniors felt the pressure, Becki finished with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with eight asssits. Kiefer had a double-double with ten points and 13 rebounds. Bischoff finished with 14 points while being 50 percent from deep, and Richard had a team-high 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Graduate student Elise Stuck had 12 points off the bench in only 17 minutes played. 

Becki is one day removed from being named the MAC Player of the Year, but could not be more happy that the race is over. She said it is relieving to get it out of the way and focus on the task at hand: winning the MAC Championship.

Becki said there is an added “sense of urgency” since this is the senior’s last go-around, but the locker room still has the same mentality—to play for each other. 

Just as Becki said urgency was a mentality this week, Sallee pinpointed the two back-to-back losses against Toledo and Kent State as creating that same urgency. 

“We got away from talking about technical things and just talking about fight,” Sallee said. “More importantly, who we were fighting for. When those kids look in that locker room at each other, there’s no question who they’re fighting for.”

Alongside his seniors, Sallee said he is trying to take a step back and enjoy the ride with the 2024-25 squad. 

“These groups don’t come along every day,” Sallee said. 

Sallee said some moments he has stepped back and appreciated are the players smiling and genuinely happy.  

“I know that trophy that we won the other day, or hopefully the one we win here, it’s going to sit in somebody’s office and collect dust at some point,” Sallee said. “But those memories, man, that’s what this is about. Ultimately, that’s what we’re chasing.”

Ball State will face the winner of Kent State vs. Miami and play at 10 a.m. with a trip to MAC the championship game on the line. 

Contact Elijah Poe via email at elijah.poe@bsu.edu or on X @ElijahPoe4.