Takeaways from Miami Hurricane basketball’s 101-61 win over Bethune-Cookman

Bethune-Cookman gave Auburn all it could handle in its season opener Monday, losing by just five in an overtime shootout. Coming off this near upset, the Wildcats entered Thursday’s game against Miami craving a signature win.

But the Hurricanes quickly made sure an upset wasn’t happening.

Miami jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game’s first two minutes and maintained an advantage for the rest of the night. Guard Tre Donaldson and forward Malik Reneau led the way with 23 and 22 points, respectively.

Donaldson did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 17 of his 23 points. 

“I’m a pass-first point guard, but me being aggressive helps our team, and it just happened, there were wide-open layups and buckets and stuff like that, and I was getting good looks,” Donaldson said after the game. “So me just taking the good looks and not forcing anything and getting all my other teammates involved, that was the biggest thing. Just being aggressive in the right way.”

Defensively, the Hurricanes were more sound than they were in their season opener against Jacksonville. The Wildcats forced up contested shots all game, making just 32% of their 66 field goal attempts.

Miami head coach Jai Lucas, who preaches to his team to hold opponents under 70 points every game, liked Miami’s defensive improvements from Game 1 to Game 2. He especially liked what he saw on the defensive end from guard Tru Washington, who had four steals.

“For me, it’s just the standard of where we got to get to and what I want it to look like, and what I feel we can be defensively,” Lucas said. “The one thing that I did, I challenged Tru Washington because I think he can be one of the best defensive guards in the country. And they have a kid on their team, Arterio Morris, who I recruited when I was at Texas, former McDonald’s All-American, just had 20 at Auburn. You know how talented he is. That was [Washingtons’] coverage, 1-for-13.”

Canes dominated in the paint

Miami was branded as an interior-focused team heading into the season, but what it did in the paint against Bethune-Cookman left Wildcats head coach and former NBA All-Star Reggie Theus nearly speechless.

“They got 58 points in the paint. There’s no fix for that,” Theus said. “I don’t think they ran anything that was a problem for us, but when it’s said and done, that’s really where the game was.”

Reneau scored his 22 points on an efficient 9-for-12 clip from the field. Center Ernest Udeh Jr. was a dominant lob threat once again, scoring eight points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Udeh also blocked four shots, which tied his career high.

Theus thinks that Miami’s premier frontcourt play has a trickle-down effect on its guards.

“When you have guys you can throw the ball to, just throw the ball to them and get out of the way, that helps everybody else,” Theus said. “And you’ve got probably at least two or three guys you can just throw the ball to. That makes your perimeter game a lot better because you have to pay attention to it.”

Dante Allen bounces back

Freshman guard Dante Allen didn’t have the college debut he dreamed of on Monday, missing all three of his shot attempts to pair with two turnovers.

When Allen checked into the game against the Wildcats, he was immediately aggressive, driving to the basket to score his first career points.

“It meant everything,” Allen said about scoring his first points. “It helped me breathe, relax. “All those jitters got out and then I’m able to play my game and kind of settle in.”

Allen, who Lucas said after the game was very impressive during summer workouts and preseason practices, was confident and aggressive in this bounce-back performance. He finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. 

This type of showing from Allen is encouraging, as the Hurricanes will likely rely on him this season to be their top guard off the bench.

“He’s going to be a big part of our team moving forward and a big part of the program,” Lucas said about Allen.

Miami was vulnerable on the glass

There’s not a lot of bad to poke at in a 40-point win over a conference favorite, but one area where Miami struggled at times was rebounding.

The Hurricanes outrebounded Bethune-Cookman 44-35, but the Wildcats were able to grab 15 offensive rebounds, which Lucas was not pleased about. 

“Bethune [was] sending three or four guys. I said this before the game, they have high-major talent. Whenever you have a McDonald’s All-American, that’s high-major talent they have over there. They’re big, they’re athletic and we did a bad job of boxing out,” Lucas said. 

“We were running under the rim, and they’re just flying. And with their athleticism and their size, they’re able to get those balls. So I think we did a bad job of blocking out, and then we slapped at a lot of balls. We didn’t go after them and snatch them with two hands, and that’s a big part of it.”

Given how tall and physical Miami is, rebounding will likely be a strength this season, especially if the team is able to correct some of the issues that plagued it on the glass against Bethune-Cookman.