Heat win streak comes to end
Duke finishes strong; UM drops 3rd in 4 games
Johnson lost to ankle sprain.
CORAL GABLES — For the Hurricanes, the stage was set hours before tip-off.
When the latest Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll was released Monday afternoon, Miami fell seven spots to No. 25. Meanwhile, Duke — set to visit Miami that night — moved into the top five.
That shift created a scenario somewhat similar to one that played out on Miami’s home floor in 2013, when the then-25th-ranked Hurricanes upset a topfive Blue Devils team, one ranked No. 1 at the time.
That was one of the biggest wins in Miami history and there were moments Monday night it seemed as if that history might repeat itself.
But while the Hurricanes led by as many as 13 points in the second half, Miami unraveled. And Duke, fueled by some stellar shooting from Gary Trent, put together a dominant run late en route to an eventual 83-75 win over the Hurricanes at the Watsco Center.
The loss, the Hurricanes’ second straight and third in four games, drops UM to 13-4 and worse, 2-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Trent, one of Duke’s highly touted freshmen, finished with a game-high 30 points. He converted on 6-of-9 from 3-point range, several of those deep threes coming after Miami built its double-digit lead in the second half.
Fellow Duke freshmen Trevon Duval and Wendell Carter Jr. added 17 and 15 points, respectively.
Miami, meanwhile, got solid performances from its standout freshmen too, with Lonnie Walker IV scoring a team-high 19 points and Chris Lykes adding 13.
It wasn’t enough for the struggling Hurricanes, who endured a scoring drought of
more than three minutes while Duke (16-2, 4-2 in ACC) went on a late 15-2 run and later, hit on four of its last five field goals.
“We played great for 32 minutes, from the tip-off to the 8-minute mark left in the second half. I think we led by 13 at that point and then everything changed,” Hurricanes coach Jim Larrañaga said. “The Gary Trent show began. He ends up scoring 30 points. But the key, I thought, was his two threes from the right corner, one right after the other. They cut a 13-point lead down to seven and they switched to the zone and we couldn’t buy a basket. We were, all of a sudden, not playing as sharply as we had the first 32 minutes.”
Added Miami’s Dewan Huell, who finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, “It was a lack of discipline. We didn’t get back and set our defense. We gave up open shots and we let them get into a groove.”
Despite their issues late, there were times Miami seemed to feed off the electric crowd at the sold-out Watsco Center, a crowd that included 37 NBA scouts, Heat owner Micky Arison, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez.
The Hurricanes, who trailed 42-40 after a backand-forth first half, opened the second on a dazzling 19-2 run fueled in large part by Lykes and Walker.
During that stretch, the Blue Devils turned the ball over six times in eight minutes. That helped Miami build a 66-53 lead before Gary caught fire, Duke switched to its zone and the Blue Devils surged.
Gary hit one three, then another. Then came a 3-point play from Marvin Bagley and a dunk from Grayson Allen. Finally, with 4:40 left, Duval converted on a layup to give the Blue Devils a 68-66 lead and Duke would not trail again, though Miami was able to pull within three twice in the final three minutes.
“They had that 13-point lead and they made us look bad and we made us look bad. It was a combination,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And our kids turned it around. The last 11 minutes, we were so good. So good. Gary’s two threes were just a big-time statement. We kept them out of our paint with the zone, we were fortunate. They missed a few shots, but we didn’t give them second shots. We turned some of the loose balls, rebounds into fast breaks. But Trent was spectacular.”
The Hurricanes will look to get back on track Sunday when they travel to North Carolina State. They take on Louisville and Florida State next week.