There was never any question in Allen Roberts’ mind.

Roberts sank both ends of the 1-and-1 with 7.5 seconds left Saturday night as the Miami University men’s basketball team, which blew a 21-point lead in the last 10-plus minutes, topped Buffalo 58-57 at Alumni Arena.

“I’m going to make the free throws,” said Roberts, who was asked what he was thinking at the charity stripe. “That’s what we do every day. We went over today in the shootaround, and when we were shooting our free throws, coach said, ‘No talking.’ So I knew I was going to make them.”

Roberts drove to the basket and was fouled by Auraum Nuiriankh after MU’s Quinten Rollins had his shot blocked moments earlier.

Roberts, a redshirt junior from Middletown, brought an 87.3 free-throw percentage into the contest and was 4 of 5 in the game.

“That last 10 minutes was a slump, and we had to fight through adversity,” Roberts said. “I wanted to step on their throat. It’s just that things don’t go your way all the time. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy path to beat Buffalo on the road. It’s hard to win on the road period.”

The Bulls roared back with their inside game, powered by Javon McCrea and Cameron Downing, and the RedHawks didn’t have a field goal in the final 10:19.

“I think it was just a reality check. We needed to play harder,” McCrea said of falling behind 54-33. “We kind of forced them to do what we wanted them to do. We were really determined to actually win the game. I think we stopped thinking about the scoreboard and started playing.”

RedHawks coach John Cooper credited UB for its comeback and felt his squad got a bit complacent.

“It was almost as if we were just trying to protect the lead instead of closing out the game, which in many ways is a natural thing when you get a lead of that nature,” Cooper said. “Then of course Uncle Mo got on their side. They were getting the ball inside. More importantly, I thought what they did best was they really started attacking us on the offensive glass.”

Buffalo had a 34-28 advantage on the boards. Miami’s top two rebounders were guards Reggie Johnson and Rollins with four apiece.

No time to party: MU’s lead was still in double digits when Cooper saw something he didn’t want to see during a timeout.

“I see our guys jumping and the stuff this generation does … don’t get me started,” Cooper said. “I’m sitting there yelling as they’re coming because the game isn’t over. So many times I think people start celebrating things that aren’t winning things. To me, the time to celebrate is when you’ve won.”

It was still a victory on the road, and Miami hadn’t won in Buffalo since Feb. 16, 2008. The RedHawks are 2-6 away from Millett Hall this season.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Cooper said. “I’m proud that they were able to just hang in there and get a road win.”

Notebook: Drew McGhee and Geovonie McKnight chipped in seven and six points, respectively, for MU and combined to hit 4 of 7 field goals and 5 of 6 free throws. … Saturday’s attendance was 3,284. … Will Sullivan paced the RedHawks in assists (four) and steals (two). … Miami’s Jon Harris played just seven minutes off the bench and made his only shot, a 3-pointer.