Injury-plagued Canes overmatched in rout
Just when it seemed things couldn’t get much worse for the University of Miami men’s basketball team, Georgia Tech showed up at the Watsco Center on Saturday afternoon, stole the ball and momentum in the opening minutes, took a 30-point halftime lead and cruised to an 87-60 victory.
It was the Yellow Jackets’ largest-ever margin of victory in an ACC road game and UM’s seventh loss in the past eight games.
Down to five healthy scholarship players by the end of the game with Harlond Beverly (back) and Isaiah Wong (right ankle) joining the ever-expanding injury list, the Hurricanes were overmatched from start to finish. Beverly did not dress and Wong, the team’s leading scorer, sat out the second half with a right ankle injury.
The Yellow Jackets have a knack for stealing the ball and are tied for the ACC lead in that category with nine steals per game. They had eight in the first eight minutes against UM, nine by halftime and turned 13 Hurricanes first-half turnovers into 22 points, many off fast-break layups and dunks.
Georgia Tech raced to a 12-0 lead, forcing four early UM turnovers and by the 12-minute mark the Yellow Jackets had taken a 26-7 lead. Miami continued to turn the ball over and went on an 8-minute scoring drought as Tech seemed to score at will, shooting 63 percent in the first half.
“We came out lackadaisical and Georgia Tech threw a knockout punch in the first half,” said UM center Deng Gak.
Even the easy things looked hard for the Hurricanes as they missed free throws and dunks.
By halftime, the Hurricanes trailed 48-18. It was the fewest first-half points for Miami since scoring 14 against Purdue in December. UM rallied to win that game 58-54 over the Boilermakers, but there was no storybook ending Saturday.
“Georgia Tech was really, really good right from the very start,” said UM coach Jim Larrañaga. “Obviously, everybody’s discouraged when you’re down by 30 at the half. We knew Georgia Tech forces a lot of turnovers, we had eight in the first eight minutes. I called a timeout down 12-0. It’s very hard when you don’t have the right pieces in the right places.”
The struggles continued in the second half after Wong left the game. Michael Devoe hit a threepointer just after intermission to extend the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 51-18, and the Canes were never able to get into the game.
Larrañaga said he hopes Wong’s sprained ankle is mild and that he will return for Wednesday’s home game against No. 16 Florida State.
Devoe was the game’s leading scorer with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 7 of 11 threepointers. Georgia Tech guard Jose Alvarado had 16 points and six assists and Moses Wright added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Elijah Olaniyi led Miami with 18 points and seven rebounds. Anthony Walker scored 16 and Nysier Brooks chipped in 12.
The Hurricanes dropped to 7-13 overall and 3-12 in the ACC. Georgia Tech improved to 11-8, 7-6 in the ACC.