# 1985–86 Miami Redskins men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Miami Redskins men's basketball team represent Miami University in the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Redskins, led by 2nd-year head coach Jerry Peirson, played their home games at Millett Hall in Oxford, Ohio as members of the Mid-American Conference. The team won the conference regular season title, but lost to Ball State in the championship game of the MAC tournament. The Redskins received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region. Miami was beaten by the No. 7 seed Iowa State Cyclones in the opening round, 81–79 in OT on a buzzer beater by Jeff Hornacek. The Redskins did not fare well in overtime games this season as each one of their last four losses of the season was an overtime game.
Senior Ron Harper was again named MAC Player of the Year, and added to his list of school records. At the finish of the season, Harper owned school records for career points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. He was also fourth in career assists.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 22, 1985* | | vs. No. 9 Louisville Big Apple NIT | L 65–81 | 0–1 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 2, 1985* | | Centre | W 92–53 | 1–1 | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 4, 1985* | | Dayton | W 70–57 | 2–1 | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 9, 1985* | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 65–63 | 3–1 | McBrayer Arena Richmond, Kentucky |
| Dec 11, 1985* | | Denison | W 80–55 | 4–1 | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 14, 1985* | | Xavier | W 80–74 | 5–1 | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Dec 21, 1985* | | at Dayton | L 68–70 | 5–2 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| Dec 23, 1985* | | at Cincinnati | W 63–62 | 6–2 | Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 27, 1985* | | vs. No. 19 Virginia Tech Miller Classic | W 83–82 | 7–2 | Sun Dome Tampa, Florida |
| Dec 28, 1985* | | at South Florida Miller Classic | L 63–76 | 7–3 | Sun Dome Tampa, Florida |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 1986 | | Bowling Green | W 62–54 | 8–3 (1–0) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Jan 4, 1986 | | at Eastern Michigan | W 63–52 | 9–3 (2–0) | Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, Michigan |
| Jan 8, 1986 | | Toledo | W 80–51 | 10–3 (3–0) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Jan 11, 1986 | | at Northern Illinois | L 75–77 $^{OT}$ | 10–4 (3–1) | Chick Evans Fieldhouse DeKalb, Illinois |
| Jan 15, 1986 | | Kent State | W 58–51 | 11–4 (4–1) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Jan 18, 1986 | | at Ball State | W 73–59 | 12–4 (5–1) | Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana |
| Jan 22, 1986 | | at Ohio | W 85–68 | 13–4 (6–1) | Convocation Center Athens, Ohio |
| Jan 25, 1986 | | Western Michigan | W 68–60 | 14–4 (7–1) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Jan 29, 1986 | | at Central Michigan | W 62–55 | 15–4 (8–1) | Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, Michigan |
| Feb 1, 1986 | | Eastern Michigan | W 102–68 | 16–4 (9–1) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Feb 5, 1986 | | at Toledo | W 93–68 | 17–4 (10–1) | John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio |
| Feb 8, 1986 | | Northern Illinois | W 75–69 | 18–4 (11–1) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Feb 12, 1986 | | at Kent State | W 77–69 | 19–4 (12–1) | Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio |
| Feb 15, 1986 | | Ball State | W 103–77 | 20–4 (13–1) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Feb 19, 1986 | | Ohio | L 79–80 $^{OT}$ | 20–5 (13–2) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Feb 22, 1986 | | at Western Michigan | W 81–73 | 21–5 (14–2) | University Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan |
| Feb 26, 1986 | | Central Michigan | W 74–73 | 22–5 (15–2) | Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio |
| Mar 1, 1986 | | at Bowling Green | W 91–79 | 23–5 (16–2) | Anderson Arena Bowling Green, Ohio |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1986* | | vs. Toledo | W 93–76 | 24–5 | Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois |
| Mar 8, 1986* | | vs. Ball State | L 79–87 $^{OT}$ | 24–6 | Rockford MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 1986* | (10 MW) | vs. (7 MW) Iowa State First Round | L 79–81 $^{OT}$ | 24–7 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source

## Awards and honors

* Ron Harper – Consensus Second-team All-American, MAC Player of the Year (2x)

## 1986 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Team |
| 1 | 8 | Ron Harper | Cleveland Cavaliers |