’Canes pick up second win against a ranked team
CORAL GABLES Their win against Virginia earlier thisweek had them dancing in the locker room.
The Miami Hurricanes win over Duke on Saturday likely assured they’ll be dancing in theNCAATournament.
Miami’s men’s basketball team, which had already once this season blown a lead against the powerhouse Blue Devils, was determined to make sure that didn’t happen again.
And thanks to a spectacular effort from freshman Bruce Brown, it didn’t.
The guard dazzled on Saturday, scoring a game-high 25 points as the Hurricanes, playing in their final regular-season home game of the year, held off the 10th-ranked Blue Devils to pick up a 55-50 win in front of a capacity crowd that included the likes of Chris Bosh, Ray Allen and Alex Rodriguez.
The victory was Miami’s second upset of a rankedteam thisweek after the Hurricanes bested then-18thranked Cavaliers 54-48 in overtime onMonday. It also marked their second upset of the season of a Tobacco Road blueblood, with Miami knocking off thenNo. 9North Carolina late last month.
In all, the Hurricanes have won eight of their past 10 in conference play and have posted a 20-in season for the fifth time in six years under coach JimLarranaga.
Plenty for Miami’s fans — many of whom rushed the court — to celebrate, and plenty, theHurricanes feel they’ve done, to secure a secondstraightNCAA Tournament berth.
“We knew the talent we had and we knewwewere destined to open it up a little bit for ourselves,” said Davon Reed, who had 9 points and10 rebounds, and who with Kamari Murphy was one of two seniors honored ahead of tip-off. “We just had to find our rhythm. The talent was always there, we were just a young team trying to find ourselves. The biggest thing we can rely on is our defense and it’s been tough for teams to score. With that, we can play with anybody in any game.”
Reed’s assessmentwas one echoed by Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, who praised the Hurricanes’ defensive effort after Miami heldDuke, whichaverages80.1points per game, to its lowest scoring total of the season.
That defense and Brown’s proved a lethal combination.
The freshmanwas 11 of 18 from the fieldandhit Miami’s lone 3-pointer of the day, a shot that fell in the opening minutes and seemingly set the tone for howhe’d play the rest of theway.
When the Hurricanes’ (20-8, 10-6 ACC) offense struggled and found itself mired in scoring droughts reminiscent of the ones that appeared in Durham when the Blue Devils (22-7, 10-6) used a strong second half to beat Miami in January, itwas often Brown who helped them emerge.
And fittingly, it was his dunk with five seconds left that clinched thewin seconds after a Luke Kennard 3-pointer pulled the Blue Devils to within three in the game’s final moments.
“Growing up, me andmy dad used play towatch Duke all the time. And I just wanted to come out and perform and I played well and helped my team win,” said Brown, who had 25 points in 70 minutes of action at home against Duke. “I didn’t really think much of it. I just came out, played hard and [did] what the team needed me to do and helpedmy team win.”
For the Hurricanes, though, there is little time to celebrate Saturday’s win.
Larranaga noted the Blue Devils still outrebounded Miami13-10 as the teams traded leads six times and now, the Hurricanes will look to continue improving their seeding for the upcoming ACC Tournament with road games at Virginia Tech and No. 19 Florida State.
The two teams have combined to go 31-1 at home, meaning Miami faces a challenge thisweek.
“Very satisfying to have another 20-win season, but we still have two huge games ahead of us. … Florida State is undefeated [at home] andVirginia Tech, I think, only has one loss [at home],” Larranaga said. “As satisfying as today’s win was and the record is now, our work is still ahead of us.”
ccabrera@sunsentinel.com, Twitter @ChristyChirinos