Miami (Ohio) Survives on the Road in Overtime to Move to Perfect 20–0 on Season

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Miami (Ohio) is the red hot team no college basketball fans expected this season, and they aren’t slowing down any time soon, it seems.
Tuesday night’s matchup vs. Kent State proved to be a difficult challenge for the RedHawks in the second half, but one that they could still overcome. After going down big in the first half, the Golden Flashes outscored Miami 58–44 in the final 20 minutes of regulation, nearly pulling off the upset. Kent State led 92–90 with less than 10 seconds remaining, when the RedHawks’ Luke Skaljac tied the game on a layup, sending it to overtime.
Ultimately, Miami charged back in overtime to defeat Kent State 107–101. The RedHawks scored six unanswered points to open up OT, and the Golden Flashes weren’t able to keep pace. Miami is now 20–0 on the season with the tight win.
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20-0!
— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2026
Miami (OH) wins an OT thriller at Kent State to remain one of the nation’s three unbeatens 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sSEjqgaaUr
This win comes after the RedHawks were ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1999, when Wally Szczerbiak led the program to the Sweet 16.
Miami is one of three college teams who remain undefeated this far into the season. Top-ranked Arizona is 18–0, as is No. 7 Nebraska.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.
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