An 11th-seeded SMU team that snuck into theNCAA tournamentin the First Four was one thing for Miami (Ohio).
No. 6 Tennessee on Friday proved another altogether. No. 11 Miami failed to build off the success ofits First Four win over SMUin a78-56 loss to Tennesseein the first round.
The blowout did little to settle whether Miami belonged in the tournament field to begin with.
Tennessee takes control, doesn't let go
The runaway was on at halftime as the Volunteers raced out to a 51-32 lead behind 22 first-half points from senior guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie (29 points, 9 assists, 3 steals for the game). They built the lead and controlled the game despite star freshman Nate Ament failing to crack the scoreboard (0 points, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 0 for 3 from the field).
There was no miracle rally for the Redhawks, whose worthiness for the NCAA tournament was a hot topic of debate after they failed to win a game in their conference tournament and didn't secure the MAC's automatic bid.
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Miami scored just one point and didn't hit its first field goal of the second half until 4:30 ran off the clock. Miami mounted a 7-0 run midway through the second half, but that just cut Tennessee's lead to 17 points.
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The hot 3-point shooting that powered Miami's First Four win was not present on Friday (7 of 29, 24%). The Volunteers never let the Redhawks back into the game.
And Miami's NCAA tournament concludes without a clear answer regarding its worthiness to make the field in the first place.
Tennessee, meanwhile, advances to the second round with confidence for a matchup against No. 3 seed Virginia.
Should Miami have made field as an at-large team?
Before its first-round loss in the MAC tournament, Miami went 31-0 as the last unbeaten team in college basketball. But its schedule was one of the weakest in the country and featured no games against power conference opponents.
This was in large part no fault of its own as power conference schools are hesitant to schedule games against mid-majors. Associate head coachJonathan Holmes previously told Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenbergthe program "was told no by probably 75 to 90 teams" that it tried to put on its schedule.
But Miami's schedule was its schedule, and its tournament résumé (No. 87 in KenPom,No. 64 NET,No. 37 WAB, 0 Quad 1 wins) didn't make the strongest case for at-large consideration. But ultimately, the selection committee leaned on the WAB rankings that favored Miami above other metrics and rewarded the Redhawks for their 31-1 season with a berth in the First Four.
The Redhawks leave the NCAA tournament with an exciting First Four win. But against the larger tournament field, they didn't compete.