UM men succumb to Dayton’s long-range shooting
The University of Miami men’s basketball team dropped a 76-60 decision to Dayton on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational at Kissimmee.
The Flyers’ excellent shooting, particularly beyond the arc, proved too much for Miami (3-2) to handle at the HP Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports. Thirdyear sophomore guard Isaiah Wong paced the Hurricanes with 10 points in the Thanksgiving Day setback.
“Well, Dayton’s pressure defense to start the game really disrupted us. They got into our heads,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We became very disjointed and never were able to organize our offense or defense to the point where there was a chance for us to make a comeback and win the game.”
Miami held an early
13-11 lead, but the Hurricanes
then stalled offensively. They missed nine straight shots over fiveplus minutes, as Dayton (2-3) went on a 9-0 run to go in front, 20-13, with
7:27 on the clock.
The Flyers continued their offensive surge, posting a stretch in which they went 8-of-10 from the floor, to go up by 13, 36-23, with 1:06 left before the break. The Hurricanes scored the final basket of the half and went into the intermission down by 11, 36-25.
Dayton shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) in the opening 20 minutes, while Miami posted a 30 percent clip (9-of-30). The Flyers also recorded a 44.4 percent mark (4-of-9) from deep, while the Hurricanes shot 9.1 percent (1-of-11) beyond the arc in the opening frame.
Coming out of the locker room, Miami scored six straight points to pull within five, but Dayton countered with 10 in a row of its own. The burst included back-to-back three-pointers by redshirt junior guard
Elijah Weaver, helping the Flyers take a then-gamehigh 15-point edge, 46-31, with 15:24 remaining.
The Hurricanes never got any closer than 11 the rest of the way, as Dayton earned the victory in front of a bevy of its fans clad in red and white.
“We did do a good job in the second half of cutting the lead to six, but they immediately made an adjustment and made a couple of threes,” Larrañaga said. “That made all the difference.”
Wong finished the day as the Hurricanes’ lone double-digit scorer, marking the first time Miami had just one such player since March 4, 2020.
Three other Hurricanes notched eight points, including freshman guards Bensley Joseph and Wooga Poplar.
The Hurricanes return to the court Friday at 11 a.m. against North Texas.
UM WOMEN FALL IN BAHAMAS TOURNEY
The University of Miami women’s basketball team lost to Washington State 62-47 at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas.
“There’s no question that we are very disjointed and aren’t really a smooth offensive team,” head coach Katie Meier said. “Washington State made some great adjustments at halftime and really got after it and we couldn’t overcome that gap.”
Senior Karla Erjavec led all Miami scorers with 11 points in the game. Four other Canes tallied sevenplus points — Mykea Gray (eight), Lola Pendande (eight), Moulayna Johnson Sidi Baba (seven) and Kelsey Marshall (seven).
Miami looks to bounce back on Saturday when it takes on No. 4 Indiana in the final game of the Baha Mar Hoops event.
Tipoff between the Canes and the Hoosiers is set for 8:30 p.m.
TOP 25 MEN
No. 4 Kansas 71, North Texas 59:
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Ochai Agbaji had 18 points and Christian Braun added 16 as the Jayhawks (4-0) beat the Mean Green (2-2) in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational. Agbaji became the 63rd player to reach 1,000 points in Kansas history when he hit a three to open the scoring
2 1⁄2 minutes into the game.
No. 6 Baylor 69, VCU
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61: Matthew Mayer scored 15 points to help the Bears (6-0) hold off the Rams (3-3) in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Iona 72, No. 10 Alabama
● 68: Nelly Joseph and Walter Clayton Jr. made key free throws in the final seconds to lift Iona (6-0) over the Crimson Tide (4-1) in an opening-round game at the ESPN Events Invitational. Iona won despite a 4 1⁄2 minute-stretch early in the second half without a field goal. Alabama was up 33-29 at the half, which matched the biggest lead during the opening half.
No. 19 Auburn 62,
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Loyola Chicago 53: Jabari Smith had 14 points and Walker Kessler had his second straight doubledouble at the Battle 4 Atlantis,
helping the Tigers (4-1) regroup from a double-overtime loss and beat The Ramblers (4-2) in the consolation round.
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Michigan State 64, No. 22 UConn 60:
. A.J. Hoggard hit the go-ahead free throws with 30.3 seconds left and the Spartans (5-1) scored the final nine points to push past the Huskies (5-1) in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, earning a trip to Friday's championship game.
TOP 25 WOMEN
No. 5 North Carolina
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State 78, No. 2 Maryland 60: Elissa Cunane scored 20 points, making eight of her nine shots from the field, to help the Wolfpack (5-1) run past the Terrapins (6-1) at the Baha Mar
Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship tournament at Nassau, Bahamas.
No. 7 Stanford 69,
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No. 4 Indiana 66: Cameron Brink had 21 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks to help the Cardinal (4-1) edge the Hoosiers (4-1) at the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo tournament.