Miami Hurricanes males’s basketball comes alive in second half to defeat UNC Greensboro

The first half of the Miami males’s basketball group’s sport towards the UNC Greensboro Spartans ended somewhat too acquainted to the Hurricanes’ earlier contest.

On Monday evening versus Lafayette, the Canes trailed by two on the finish of the primary interval. On Friday evening, they sat behind the Spartans by one.

But once more Miami considerably upped its offensive manufacturing within the second interval to seize the win, scoring 33 factors within the first half to 46 within the second. The Hurricanes, fueled by a fervent scholar part and residential crowd, defeated UNC Greensboro 79-65 Friday evening on the Watsco Center.

The Hurricanes struggled with capturing from three within the first half, succeeding on solely 3-of-10 makes an attempt. Guard Jordan Miller hit two of three he tried up however was the one participant in white to attain past the arc within the first 20 minutes. Miami then opened the second interval with three triples in a row — two by Nijel Pack, who made 4 towards Lafayette, and one by Wooga Poplar.

In the primary 10 minutes of the second half, UM scored 25 factors. The Hurricanes made 9 of their 17 field-goal makes an attempt in that point interval, adequate for a capturing proportion of 52.9. They additionally sank 5 of 9 three-point makes an attempt, or 55.6% of their pictures past the arc. The variety of pictures — and makes — far outpaced their manufacturing within the first half.

“Tonight, they [the Spartans] forced sideline and put a lot of pressure on you to go to the basket,” UM coach Jim Larrañaga mentioned of UNC Greenboro’s protection. “But when you go to the basket, there’s a big guy waiting for you. So you have to pass. That’s how we ended up with 19 assists. We kicked it out and got a three.”

The Canes ended the evening with threes from six completely different gamers, together with Isaiah Wong, Miller, Pack, Poplar, Joseph Bensley and Harlon Beverly. Three gamers completed with double-figures: Miller (19), Wong (15) and Pack (14).

“He can do everything,” Larrañaga mentioned of Miller. “He can handle the ball. He can shoot the three. The one thing we’re not getting for him, because of the way people are defending him, is we’re not getting them those drives. He tried a couple of times early. Lost the handle on one, missed one of the shots. But as we play and go further along, he’ll be able to do a lot of things because he’s like a jack-of-all trades.”

UM additionally dedicated 10 turnovers within the first half, gifting the Spartans 15 of their 34 first-half factors.

“The first half we had way too many,” Larrañaga mentioned. “Five in the second half is fine. Five or six a half, that’s good ball control. But when we start to get up into 12, 14, 15 that’s a real problem.”

Arkansas State switch Norchad Omier, who snagged 15 rebounds (eight offensive, seven defensive) towards Lafayette on Monday, continued to dominate on the boards Friday. The 6-7 and 250-pound ahead grabbed seven rebounds within the first half towards the Spartans (three offensive, 4 defensive). He ended the evening with 11.

Heading into Friday, Wong was simply three factors away from UM’s prime 20 in scoring and 13 factors from No. 18 with 1,284. He scored his third and fourth factors of the evening off consecutive free throws with 2:57 left within the first half. UNC Greensboro held the preseason First Team All-ACC guard to simply 4 factors within the first 20 minutes of sport time.

Friday’s contest was the second of three house video games for the Canes, who play Florida A&M on Tuesday earlier than touring to Uncasville, Connecticut, for the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 19-20.