DAYTON, Ohio - Will Miller played his best this season when the stage was the largest and a nationwide audience was tuned in.
Whether that was a game against the No. 1 team in the country, the Northeast Conference tournament championship game or even a first-round NCAA Tournament game, the Mount St. Mary's freshman shined.
On Tuesday night at the University of Dayton Arena against Albany in a "First Four" NCAA tournament matchup, Miller nearly did enough to single-handedly power the Mountaineers to victory.
Nobody on the Mount could hit a 3-pointer in the 71-64 loss to Albany - except for Miller, who shot 7 for 12 from behind the 3-point arc and scored a team-high 21 points, matching a school record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament game and setting a new career high.
"We felt Will was going to have a huge game for us," MSM coach Jamion Christian said. "He's been a kid all year long playing on big stages, against big teams. He's made a lot of 3's. And we knew he was capable of getting hot."
Miller's previous career best was 15 points, which he did twice. One of those times was Nov. 29 against Michigan State, which was ranked No. 1 at the time.
And after beginning the NEC tournament by scoring just 3 points in the first two games, he scored 11, all in the first half, against Robert Morris in the final on ESPN2.
On Tuesday, Mount St. Mary's desperately needed a spark after falling behind 21-2 and missing 13 of its first 14 shots. With 11 minutes, 17 seconds to go in the first half, Miller drained a 3 to begin an 18-0 run that got the Mountaineers back into a game which was beginning to look like a blowout.
"Anytime any player can get a start like that, you just kind of keep going and you build off of momentum," Miller said. "To just be able to come in the game and make that kind of impact really meant a lot."
Christian has praised Miller's shooting ability since the first practice of the season. Miller finished his rookie campaign 55 for 138 (39.9 percent).
"I believe in his career some day he'll hit 10 of these [in a game]," Christian said. "I thought that might have been tonight. He got to seven. Had he got to 10, we would all be in here jumping for joy, at least I would."
Miller may not have made 10 3-pointers, but he made them when his teammates couldn't and kept the Mountaineers close to the Great Danes until the final minute. Rashad Whack, Julian Norfleet and Sam Prescott, who were the only other players to attempt a 3, combined to go 5-for-25 behind the arc.
"Will, he came in, gave us a spark off the bench. So that always helps," Prescott said. "Once you see a couple go down, the ball gets rolling."
With the Mount down seven with 4:22 to go, Miller hit a 3 to cut the deficit to 63-59. On the next possession just under a minute later, Miller made one last 3-pointer to trim Albany's lead to one.
But after that, Miller never took another shot, the Mount missed a pair of potential game-tying 3's in the final minute, and the Mountaineers became the first team eliminated from the tournament, despite Miller's best efforts.
However, the Mount freshman said it was still an accomplishment for his team to get that far, led by its three seniors in Whack, Norfleet and Prescott.
"Anytime you get to play, just from years past watching the NCAA tournament, it's a huge stage," Miller said. "So just for our team to be able to make it this far is something huge. Obviously not every team in the nation makes it this far. To just be able to do it with these three seniors really meant a lot."
