BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Travis Steele holds Indiana University basketball in high regard, and he brought his team to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in hopes of making a statement.

Steele, a Danville, Ind., native who was on Kelvin Sampson’s coaching staff at Indiana, is trying to change the perception of Miami of Ohio basketball. The RedHawks haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since 2007, and they’ve gone above .500 just three times since then. 

While a final score of 76-57 suggests an easy Indiana victory, Miami kept it close for the better part of 30 minutes Friday at Assembly Hall. It was a five-point game with 10 minutes to play, but the RedHawks 3-pointers stopped falling down the stretch and they couldn’t handle Indiana’s size inside.

Steele didn’t get the upset win he was looking for, but he sees potential in his third team after going 12-20 and 15-17 in his first two seasons. 

“There’s no moral victories. We came here to win. That’s the expectation,” Steele said postgame. “I gotta change the viewpoint of – Miami hasn’t won in a long time, and it’s not good enough to just be in a game. That’s what I told them. People are gonna say, ‘Oh you had it 55-50,’ and all that stuff. Who cares? The only thing you see is the final score. We came here to win. We prepared that way.” 

“But I think we can compete with anybody. I’m telling you, we’re not the same team that we were year one. I do know that. We’re a lot more talented, and our guys are connected. I think we’re a tough team. We play really hard. But we gotta get a lot better too.” 

Miami fell into three separate double-digit deficits in the first half, but it fought back each time. The first mini run was sparked by a Luke Skaljac 3-pointer. Evan Ipsaro and Reece Potter each added 3-pointers during Miami’s next run, which cut the deficit from 25-13 to 25-21. 

Indiana appeared ready to pull away a third time when it took a 33-21 lead with 5:15 left in the first half. But Potter and Eian Elmer sank a pair of 3-pointers that trimmed Indiana’s lead back down to four points. 

After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, Miami went into halftime down 39-36, in large part due to its 3-point shooting. The RedHawks made 7-of-16 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes of play, spread across four players. 

Indiana coach Mike Woodson called his team’s defense disconnected earlier in the season. It looked that way again in the first half Friday, especially as it struggled to rotate out to 3-point shooters. 

“I wish we would have made some more,” Steele said, laughing. “Our goal was to shoot 35 threes. I think we took 32. For us to have a chance in this game, I thought that was the area where we could maybe take advantage, right, because they don’t shoot quite as many threes. Threes are worth more than twos, right, so I was like, man, let’s let that thing fly.” 

That strategy worked for a while. For much of the second half, Miami hoped its 3-point shooting could keep the game close for long enough to make a run at the end. Carmel Ind., native Peter Suder and Kam Craft each hit threes within the first four minutes of the second half, and Skaljac made it a five-point game with a 3-pointer at the 10:09 mark. 

But the RedHawks were outmatched by Indiana’s size and strength inside, particularly with 7-footer Oumar Ballo and 6-foot-9 power forward Malik Reneau. That duo helped Indiana go on a 12-0 run with 5:11 to play, which was enough to seal the victory.

“I thought we had some really good looks, quite honestly, during that run that didn’t go in. It’s the way of the game. Keep shooting the ball. It’s the law of averages. I thought we were able to drive and kick and kind of spray and play, move, cut, and when we did we moved the ball side to side and had some pretty good shots.”

Reneau and Ballo combined for 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting. Ballo grabbed 18 rebounds, just short of his career-high of 21, set in 2023 against Florida Atlantic, as the Hoosiers gained a 46-29 rebounding advantage. Seven of Indiana’s nine offensive rebounds came in the second half. 

“Ballo and Reneau, just on that glass,” Steele said. “I thought they were just dominant.”

Reneau scored a game-high 19 points on 8-for-15 shooting and added seven rebounds and an assist. Miami played Indiana during Reneau’s freshman season in 2022-23 – an 86-56 Hoosier victory – and Steele has seen great strides from the power forward. 

“I’ve been really impressed with Malik Reneau,” Steele said postgame. “… Just his progress and development has been impressive. He’s an, in my opinion, he’ll be an all-league guy, I would imagine, the way he’s playing. … Number one, his body, what [Indiana director of athletic performance] Clif Marshall, who’s a good friend of mine – Clif’s done a great job with him. He’s leaned out, he looks strong, he’s more mobile. He can pass, he can handle, he can shoot it a little bit, he can post you. He’s a matchup problem. He’s a really good player.”

Skaljac led the RedHawks with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting off the bench, followed by 11 points from Elmer and nine from Suder. Miami scored 36 points in the first half and gave Indiana’s defense serious trouble on the perimeter, but it shot just 23.3% and scored 21 points in the second half. 

The loss drops Miami to 5-3 on the season, with losses to Michigan and Wright State. The RedHawks have four games before Mid-American Conference play begins.

Despite his disappointment in not pulling off an underdog win, Steele was glad to be back in a venue he cherishes. Steele joined Indiana’s coaching staff in 2006 as a video coordinator and was promoted to assistant coach when former Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson was fired. His Indiana ties also include graduating from Butler University, coaching at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and coaching for the Indiana Adidas Elite AAU Basketball program.

“Growing up as a kid here in Indiana, man, is what you dream of, right? Indiana University, it’s God around here, right, so to speak,” Steele said. “So it’s awesome obviously. That’s what I told our guys, what a great opportunity to play at Assembly Hall, one of the most historic places in all of college basketball. Then obviously Indiana, you look at the five national championship banners up there, the tradition. I was fortunate to be able to work here for two years. I had a blast, learned a lot during those two years and always cheer for Indiana when we don’t play them. I didn’t cheer for ‘em tonight.”