Miami Makes Late Comeback, Defeats Syracuse 82-78
The Miami Hurricanes found their groove, albeit late in the contest, to knock off the Syracuse Orange 82-78. For a long time, it looked like Syracuse would find a way to win at the Watsco Center.
Miami trailed 38-34 at halftime, as the Syracuse offense started to gel behind talented guard Joseph Girard III creating shots, and big man Jesse Edwards being a dominant in-the-paint scorer with his 6-foot-11 and 230-pound frame.
The bigger problem for the Hurricanes in the first half was star guard Isaiah Wong had picked up two quick fouls and took a seat on the bench until after halftime. Miami’s offense went through some funks that didn’t normally happen without the sharpshooter on the court.
Fortunately for head coach Jim Larranaga and his Miami team, off the bench came guard Harold Beverly. He knocked down 16 points on the evening, including 8-8 from the free throw line. The latter was an overall theme for the Canes during their win.
As a team, Miami shot 26-29 for 89.3% from the foul line. That incredible statistic was the difference in securing the victory. To get to the foul line though, the defense of the Hurricanes needed to play better down the stretch so that they could attack the basket more.
That’s what happened.
Edwards threw down a dunk to provide the Orange a 55-44 lead at the 14.36 mark in the second half. From there, Miami slowly but surely chipped away at the lead.
More deflections and more live-ball turnovers led to open-court scoring chances for the Canes.
Miami’s power forward Norchad Omier tipped in a basket at the 7:21 mark of the second stanza to make it a 63-60 lead for Syracuse. He had a great overall game, as did Beverly.
With the Orange up three points, the back and forth began.
Hurricanes guard Nigel Pack hit a bomb from way beyond the arc to bring the score to just a one-point deficit for the Canes, trailing 70-69 with 4:11 remaining in the game.
Right afterwards, Pack was making a play again, as he came up with a steal and assisted Beverly for a layup to provide the go-ahead layup and subsequent 71-70 lead for Miami.
Syracuse was not finished, however. A three-point basket went down for Justin Taylor to give Syracuse the lead again. Miami was playing tough defense at that juncture, so hats off to Taylor and the Orange for making the passes to get players like Taylor open down the stretch.
Miami guard Jordan Miller went on a personal 5-0 scoring run that put Miami up 76-73 with 1:58 to play. It was a lead the Hurricanes never relinquished.
Despite a Girard triple with 1:26 to play that made it 78-76, Omier’s blocked shot with just 14 seconds remaining was the beginning of the end for the Orange. He rebounded the basketball, was fouled, and then knocked down two clutch free throws.
The Canes escaped the Orange in a great game. A couple of key statistical points to note. The Hurricanes were resilient despite a subpar shooting evening from the floor. They went 25-60, for 41.7%. From behind the arc, Miami was just 7-23, for 30.4%.
Despite the shooting woes from the field, again, it was the free throw line. Those 26 made shots from the charity stripe were a prime reason the Canes won. There is a concern moving forward, too.
Syracuse found a way to pound the basketball into the paint where Edwards had no match for his height and length. Miami was never expected to be a team that dominated with height, but the lack of true size showed itself last night.
Coach Larranaga and his staff will need to come up with a plan to offset that concern during the rest of the season and NCAA Tournament.
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