Canes impeccable at home in blowout of Blue Devils
wasn’t quite Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the Watsco Center was electric Monday night, the student sections were jam-packed, and the Miami Hurricanes fed off the energy from the opening whistle against Duke in an 81-59 blowout that Miami led from start to finish.
The No. 19 Canes improved to 19-5 overall, 10-4 in the ACC and 13-0 at home.
After the game, the entire UM team ran into the student section and celebrated with the fans.
Power forward Norchad Omier started the night with a rare threepointer to ignite the crowd and led Miami with 17 points, 10 rebounds, a block and two steals. Jordan Miller was also all over the floor with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
Wooga Poplar added 14 points and Isaiah Wong had 11. Nigel
Pack, who had come on strong the
previous few games, was held to five points but pitched in five rebounds and six assists.
Miami forced Duke into 20 turnIt overs and scored 23 points off those miscues.
Although Duke has slipped from the rankings in recent weeks, a nationally televised home game against the Blue Devils is always a big deal.
So big that the student passes were all gone by Sunday night for the first time this season. So big that 15 NBA scouts from 10 teams requested credentials for press row.
So big that the crowd included Hurricanes legend Rick Barry, former Duke great and NBA AllStar Carlos Boozer, former NFL player Todd Gurley, and Marlins players Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia, who sat behind the scorers’ table as guests of former UM player and newly hired Marlins first base coach Jon Jay.
The first half started and ended with emphatic plays by Omier. Known for his energy, rebounding and points in the paint, the 6-7 Nicaraguan surely caught the Blue
Devils off guard by launching his first basket from beyond the arc.
Omier had made just one three all year before Monday and he made two against Duke. He put an exclamation on the first half with a rim-shaking dunk off a feed from Nijel Pack to give the Hurricanes a 40-26 lead at the break.
Well into the second half, Omier had only two fouls, a welcome stat to UM coaches, who have been working with the high-octane forward on directing his energy and being more selective in his fouls.
Keeping Omier out of foul trouble was especially critical against Duke’s front court, which is led by 7-foot freshman Kyle Filipowski and 7-1 freshman Dereck Lively.
With the loss Duke dropped to 17-7 overall and 8-5 in the ACC. Lively and Ryan Young led the Devils with 11 points apiece, Jeremy Roach had 10 and Filipowski was limited to nine on 4-of-12 shooting.
Neither team had much time to celebrate significant weekend victories. The Hurricanes beat ACC leader Clemson 78-74 on the road on Saturday afternoon and Duke knocked off archrival North Carolina 63-57 Saturday night, an emotional victory that was extra sweet because the Tar Heels broke the Blue Devils’ hearts twice last year, in retiring coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game and again in the Final Four in New
Orleans.
The Hurricanes and Blue Devils did not have to do much scouting before Monday’s game because they were quite familiar with each other, having just played Jan. 21 in Durham.
Unlike Monday’s game, the one at Cameron went down to the final possession before Duke sealed the 68-66 win. Wong was slowed by a sinus infection that night and finished with just seven points.
Omier was held to nine points in their first meeting but had 14 rebounds.
Filipowski had 17 points and 14 rebounds that night while Lively had 10 rebounds and five blocks.
Lively had made a big impact of late with 20 blocks in the previous five games. Against UNC he had 14 rebounds and eight blocks.
Rebounding has been a critical factor for the relatively undersized Hurricanes all season. Their 38-28 advantage at Clemson came as a surprise to coach Jim Larrañaga.
“I’m so impressed with that because you see our size, we’re not very tall,” Larrañaga said after the
Clemson win. “We’re 6-7, 6-6, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-foot, and only one guy weighs over 200 pounds. We’re short and skinny but lethal.
“We have the ability with our speed and athleticism to score. And when the defense is good and our rebounding is good we’re a good team.”
They were a good team on Monday, and Duke paid the price.
The Hurricanes are back home Feb. 11 against Louisville.