Miami Hurricanes hoops makes short work of overmatched LIU, jumping out to 21-0 lead and winning, 97-49
For the Miami Hurricanes basketball team, it was a bit of a jump down in competition level on Wednesday night with a 1-6 and totally overmatched LIU team coming to the Watsco Center on Wednesday night.
The Canes certainly didn’t play down to their opponent’s level.
Miami jumped out to a 21-0 lead – no, that’s not a misprint – on the way to a 97-49 blowout win. It was 53-18 at halftime, and the biggest lead was 49 points.
“We got off to a great start, it was [21-0] and our defense was stifling,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We tried to maintain that and did a pretty good job in the first half. In the second half I had to call a time out because we weren’t as sharp…but we regrouped and ended up with a nice 97-49 win.”
Miami had five players scoring in double figures led by 17 points from Norchad Omier, who also had a team-high 13 rebounds. Ten different Miami players scored in the game, and Matthew Cleveland had 15 points (7-10 shooting), Wooga Poplar 14 (5-6 shooting, game-high five assists), Nijel Pack 13 (3-5 three-pointers) and Kyshawn George 13 (3-4 three-pointers).
LIU hit just 30.6 percent of its shots from the field and three of 23 from long range. Miami hit on 56.9 percent overall and made 11 of 26 threes.
The Canes also won the rebounding battle, 45-32.
It was utter domination.
Next up the Canes will travel to Brooklyn, NY for the NABC Brooklyn Showcase against a Colorado team tht was ranked early in the year. The game at the Barclays Center Dec. 10 will be televised on ESPN2 beginning at 2 p.m. Colorado enters with a 6-2 record and has already played another ACC opponent, losing in overtime to Florida State, 77-71.
*The last time the Hurricanes bested an opponent by greater than 45 points came on Nov. 11, 2016, when they downed Western Carolina, 92-43.
Game Notes:
- Miami’s 48-point victory over LIU is the largest scoring margin for the Hurricanes since they defeated Western Carolina by 49 on Nov. 11, 2016
- Per Stats Perform, the Hurricanes’ 35-point edge at halftime was the largest first-half scoring margin since Nov. 16, 2009 when they posted a 61-18 first half against Nova Southeastern.
- Fourth-year junior Norchad Omier recorded his fourth double-double of the season–55th of his career, with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
- Miami remains perfect at home with a 5-0 mark inside the Watsco Center this season.
- The Hurricanes have posted a 14-0 record in December games dating back to the beginning of the 2021-22 season.
- Freshman Kyshawn George recorded a career-high 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
- Sophomore AJ Casey tallied a career-high seven rebounds in the game.
