'Let it fly!!!' Wally Szczerbiak applauds RedHawks' 3-point barrage

Former Miami RedHawks great Wally Szczerbiak cheered the RedHawks' first-half success in their NCAA Tournament First Four game March 18 against the SMU Mustangs from Portland, where Szczerbiak is calling Round of 64 action later in the week. "Let it fly!!! #Flamethrowers" Szczerbiak tweeted , after the RedHawks shot 10-of-25 from 3-point range in the first half, led by 1,000-point scorer Eian Elmer 's four made 3-pointers.

"They're not scared," analyst Jamal Mashburn said of the RedHawks at halftime. "And they can shoot the ball, and they can run you out of this gym really quickly. " Ahead of the matchup, actor and former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar John Cena sent a special message to Elmer, a former Taft High School standout.

College basketball analyst Charles Barkley said the RedHawks shouldn't have had to be the first Mid-American Conference team to play in the First Four because "it's not their fault everybody in their conference sucks. " SMU head coach Andy Enfield said earlier in the week that Miami deserved its first at-large bid since Szczerbiak's 1999 Sweet 16 team, and critics of the RedHawks should shut up. Szczerbiak said during the network's "NCAA March Madness bracket breakdown" that he was "very surprised" the RedHawks were sent to Dayton.

Former North Carolina Tar Heels standout Tyler Hansbrough was among those suggesting that the RedHawks didn't deserve an at-large bid. During CBS' Selection Sunday show, analyst Seth Davis said Miami received the final at-large bid available. Chairman Keith Gill clarified a short time later that North Carolina State, Texas and SMU were ranked lower than Miami by the selection committee.