ATHENS, Ohio (AP) — No. 19 Miami (Ohio) finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team in Division I men’s basketball, with Eian Elmer scoring a career-high 32 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a gritty 110-108 overtime victory over Ohio on Friday night.
Peter Suder scored five of his 13 points in overtime for Miami (31-0, 18-0 Mid-American), which became the first team to complete an unblemished regular season since Gonzaga in 2021.
Trey Perry added 21 points and Brant Byers scored 15 for the RedHawks, who topped Akron for the league title.
Despite its magical season, Miami might need to win the conference tournament next week to guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Jackson Paveletzke led Ohio (15-16, 9-9) with a career-high 37 points. Javan Simmons scored 30 and Aidan Hadaway added 20. The Bobcats lost three straight to end the regular season.
Miami had a bumpy stretch over its previous dozen games with four one-possession wins and two others that went to overtime. This time, the RedHawks needed some late heroics again to win in Athens for the first time in 15 years.
NO. 18 ST. JOHN’S 72, SETON HALL 65
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Zuby Ejiofor scored 21 points and St. John’s held off Seton Hall to clinch at least a share of its second straight regular-season Big East title.
Bryce Hopkins had 11 points and seven rebounds and Oziyah Sellers had 11 points and five rebounds for the Red Storm (25-6, 18-2 Big East), who have consecutive regular-season titles for the first time in 40 years. They last did it under Lou Carnesecca during the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.
Rick Pitino’s Red Storm would win the regular-season crown outright if Marquette defeats Connecticut on Saturday. St. John’s will be the top seed in the Big East Tournament next week on their home court at Madison Square Garden for the second straight year.
Adam Clark led Seton Hall (20-11, 10-10) with 15 points and Najai Hines added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. The Pirates, who’ll be the No. 4 seed in the Big East Tournament, fell to 0-6 this season against the three teams ahead of them in the conference standings: St. John’s, UConn and Villanova.
