No. 6 Tennessee on Friday proved to be completely different. No. 11 Miami was unable to build on the success of its First Four victory over SMU in a 78-56 loss to Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
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For starters, the blowout did little to decide whether Miami belonged in the NCAA Tournament field.
The runaway began at halftime when the Volunteers took a 51-32 lead thanks to 22 first-half points from senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie. They built the lead even though star freshman Nate Ament failed to break the deadlock.
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There was no miraculous comeback for the Redhawks, whose NCAA tournament merit was a hot topic of debate after they failed to win a game in their conference tournament and missed out on the MAC’s automatic bid.
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Miami scored just one point and didn’t make its first field goal of the second half until the 4:30 mark was up. Miami went on a 7-0 run midway through the first half, but that only cut Tennessee’s lead to 17 points.
The sizzling three-point shooting that fueled Miami’s First Four victory wasn’t present Friday. (7 of 27, 26%). And the Volunteers never led the Redhawks back into the game.
Miami’s NCAA tournament concludes without a clear answer on his eligibility to enter the field.
Should Miami have taken the field as an at-large team?
Before its loss in the first round of the MAC tournament, Miami was 31-0 as the last undefeated team in college basketball. But their schedule was one of the weakest in the country and did not include games against power conference opponents.
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This was largely through no fault of their own, as power conference schools are hesitant to schedule games against the mid-majors. Associate head coach Jonathan Holmes previously told Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg that the program was told no by “probably 75 to 90 teams.”
But Miami’s schedule was its schedule, and its tournament resume (No. 87 in KenPom, No. 64 NET, No. 37 WAB (wins above bubble), 0 Quad 1 wins) didn’t present the strongest case for overall consideration. But ultimately, the selection committee leaned on WAB rankings that favored Miami over other metrics and rewarded the Redhawks for their 31-1 season with a spot in the First Four.