Step-back from the elbow? Pure.
Up-and-under through traffic? Two more.
Skaljac scored 15 of his career-high 19 points after halftime, lifting No. 23 Miami to a tense 73-71 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday night and pushing the RedHawks’ historic run to 23-0.
“The ball was in my hands towards the end of the game … and I made a few big shots down the stretch,” Skaljac said. “We keep finding ways to win, and tonight was just another example of that.”
Brant Byers added 11 points and Peter Suder finished with 10 points and eight assists for Miami (23-0, 11-0 Mid-American Conference). Angelo Brizzi led Buffalo (14-9, 4-7) with 22 points.
Skaljac also delivered a career-best five steals — all after intermission — and dished out three assists, repeatedly steadying the RedHawks whenever momentum tilted toward the Bulls.
“Luke’s a terrific player,” Miami coach Travis Steele said. “He can go get his own shot; he can make plays for others. I thought he was the best guard in the state of Ohio in that class of 2024, and he’s been able to showcase that here during MAC play.”
Miami led 38-35 at halftime before exploding out of the locker room with a 10-0 run. Three-pointers from Eian Elmer and Skaljac stretched the margin, and layups from Suder after back-to-back steals pushed the lead to 48-37.
Skaljac followed with a highlight up-and-under and a pull-up jumper to make it 52-40 — Miami’s largest advantage — but Buffalo clawed back with nine straight points and never went away.
The Bulls eventually pulled even at 60-60 with 6:39 left. Skaljac answered with a Eurostep layup, Antwone Woolfolk scored twice inside, and Skaljac buried another mid-range jumper to put Miami up 72-66.
Buffalo trimmed it to one in the closing seconds and had the final possession, but Ryan Sabol’s contested 3 from the right corner was off the mark over Suder’s outstretched arms.
“We knew it was going to be a tight game the entire way and we had to get stops,” Steele said. “I thought we got timely stops in the last four minutes to be able to come away with a win.”
Miami dominated the paint 48-28 and shot 24 of 30 on attempts in the lane.
“It’s just having an attack mindset,” Skaljac said. “Not settling, especially early in the shot clock, and looking to get down low.”
Steele has pressed his team for defensive growth, and the RedHawks responded by holding a Buffalo squad that scored 102 points at Millett Hall last month to just 71. The Bulls missed six of their final seven 3-point tries.
Ten Miami players saw action, with the bench outscoring Buffalo 16-9. Trey Perry provided six points and four rebounds in nine energetic minutes, and Justin Kirby added a key transition dunk late.
The win set a program record for consecutive road victories in a season at 9-0 and extended the longest winning streak in MAC history to 23 games.
Miami steps out of conference play Saturday for a MAC-Sun Belt Challenge matchup at Marshall.
“Anytime you’re on the road, you take it and run with it,” Steele said. “Good teams find a way to win when you don’t play your best. Our group has a tendency to execute well down the stretch in big moments.”
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