Short-handed Hurricanes hold off Ga. Tech

CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes have dealt with depth issues all season long.

And Miami’s men’s basketball team — which has just nine scholarship players on its roster — as dealt another blow just before tip-off against Georgia Tech when Miami announced starting point guard Ja’Quan Newton was suspended for three games after violating an undisclosed team rule.

Without him, the Hurricanes certainly had their struggles against the surging Yellow Jackets, though in the end, Miami managed to hold off a surging Yellow Jackets team, 70-61, to earn a critical Atlantic Coast Conference win on Wednesday night at the Watsco Center.

Senior Davon Reed, one of Miami’s leaders, finished with a game-high 21 points to lead three Hurricanes in double figures. Freshmen Dewan Huell and DJ Vasiljevic each added 13 points for Miami, which also outrebounded Georgia Tech 31-17 in the win.

Entering Wednesday night’s game, Newton had started all 24 of Miami’s games. He was Miami’s second-leading scorer behind Reed, averaging 15 points to Reed’s 15.5 points.

Without Newton, the Hurricanes adjusted their starting rotation to feature three guards — Reed, Bruce Brown and Anthony Lawrence, who made his 10th start of the season. Also starting was forward Kamari Murphy and sophomore center Ebuka Izundu, who made just his fifth start of the year.

The same group started the second half and while it did solid work in stretches, there’s no doubt Newton — who will also sit out Miami’s games against Clemson and Virginia — was missed.

The Hurricanes have at times struggled to put points on the board, often enduring minutes-long scoring droughts that have cost them against the likes of ACC foes Duke and most recently, Louisville.

That happened again several times Wednesday, with Miami (17-8, 7-6) going more than four minutes without a field goal in the first half, a stretch that allowed Georgia Tech to pull within 34-30.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Yellow Jackets outscored Miami 11-5, tying the game at 43 before minutes later they took a brief lead on a 3-pointer from Josh Okogie.

During that stretch, Miami was dealt another challenge when Izundu, who had two points and three rebounds at that point, began cramping in both legs and had to be helped off the court by teammates.

He did not return for the remainder of the second half, and in his absence, the Hurricanes shortened rotation was forced to power through – and it did exactly that.

Miami, which has been inconsistent from the free throw line all season, connected on 22 of 27 free throws Wednesday, including five in the final minute to help secure the win.