Miami Survives Drake, Wins 63-56 Behind Nijel Pack's 21 Points
Despite starting 0-9 from the field, the Miami Hurricanes found a way to fend off the Drake Bulldogs 63-56.
To do that, the Canes made the plays in the final five minutes to move on to the Round of 32. Miami’s defense led the way.
Drake scored just one point during the final 5:40 of action. More specifically, Miami’s defense was suffocating on the best player for Drake.
The Canes would not allow Tucker DeVries to beat them. They flat out shut him down.
It’s a good thing that happened, as Miami’s ACC Player of the Year, Isaiah Wong, went just 1-10 and 5 points as well.
With 8:21 to play, Miami took the lead 47-46 when Norchad Omier grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a layup while being fouled by Darnell Brodie. Omier then knocked down his free throw for a traditional 3-point play.
For the evening Brodie was the biggest scorer for Drake with 20 points, and he contributed 8 rebounds, while Omier finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Bad ankle? What bad ankle? Hats off to Omier for a tremendous performance.
With 6:31 to play it was getting dicey for the Canes. After a Wong miss at one end, a semi-fast break and good passing led to a corner 3-ball that hit nothing but the bottom of the net for Drake’s Sardaar Calhoun.
He came off the bench for 12 big points for the Bulldogs, and those 3 points put them up 53-47.
That play was symbolic of the game. Drake passed the basketball much better than Miami. In total, Drake had 15 assists and Miami had 6. Moving forward in the NCAA Tournament, the Canes must pass much better.
After a 18-foot jump shot went down for Drake point guard Roman Penn, Miami was in even more trouble.
Penn finished the evening with 11 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds, and was a steady hand at running the offense and keeping the Bulldogs in control despite DeVries struggling with shooting the basketball.
There was a big key to the final stretch of the game, however. That was Miami’s athleticism coming into full effect with the full-court press.
Miami destroyed Drake in those final 5 minutes, getting multiple turnovers and completely taking control down the stretch.
Remember that statistic about 1 point for Drake? The full-court press would be a major reason why. Drake was never able to get back into any form of an offensive rhythm after Miami’s Jim Larranaga gave the green light to his squad to press.
Plus, Miami’s Wooga Poplar had himself a game, including a steal that led to two free throws with 3:50 to play. For the game, Poplar finished with 15 points and 2 steals.
Drake 55 and Miami 51.
The press helped to immediately give Poplar another chance. He delivered with a pull-up jumper. Miami was down just 55-53 with 3:36 to go.
Next, Penn scored the final point for Drake with a made free throw. The Bulldogs went up 56-55 with 3:24 remaining. Miami defense was as close to perfect as it could be the rest of the way.
With the game tied at 56, Nijel Pack came up with 2 of his game-high 21 points, and it was the key play that put the Canes up. There was only 1:02 left to play.
Canes up 58-56.
Drake wilted under Miami’s defensive pressure even more after that. The Bulldogs went 0-4 from the floor during the final minute. Every shot was highly contested, and quite frankly none of them were good looks for Drake.
The Hurricanes hit 5 of 6 free throws to ice the game in the final moments.
For the game, Miami shot only 17-56 from the floor for 30.4%. Drake, however, was not much better. The Bulldogs went 22-55 for 40%. Combined with the following free throw numbers, Miami came out with the win.
The Hurricanes went 23-29, while the Bulldogs went 5-8. Next up on Sunday, Miami will play either Indiana or Kent State.
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