Hurricanes pick up a key win against Pitt
CORAL GABLES — After suffering a pair of blowout losses to two of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Miami Hurricanes were able to recalibrate on Sunday night despite their thinning depth.
Guard Kameron McGusty scored 19 and, despite leading scorer Chris Lykes fouling out in the middle of the second half, UM suffocated Pittsburgh defensively to key a 66-58 win at Watsco Center.
The Hurricanes (10-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back after double-digit losses to No. 2 Duke and No. 13 Louisville in the past week.
In a game of runs, Miami opened up with a 16-0 lead on Sunday. The Hurricanes watched it evaporate within minutes as the Panthers (11-5, 2-3) clawed back to make it 18-18 midway through the first half, but UM rebounded late in the first half and extended its lead to as many as 20 points in the second half.
With 8:09 remaining, Lykes, the junior point guard, picked up his fifth foul as Pitt was knifing into the deficit in the midst of a 21-5 swing. Lykes finished with 12 points in 19 minutes. With three fouls in the first half, he picked up his fourth with 10:52 remaining.
The Panthers cut their deficit to 4 points four separate times in the closing moments, but a pair of Sam Waardenburg baskets with just outside of two minutes remaining put the Hurricanes up 8 for a lead they would not relinquish. When the teams were exchanging field goals, guard Harlond Beverly hit a floater in the lane and center Rodney scored from in close on where he was fouled.
Beverly stepped up late in Lykes’ absence to play point guard in the closing moments. Redeeming himself from a moment in the first half where he failed to run a play Larrañaga called and turned the ball over instead, Beverly finished with all 6 of his points and four of his five assists in the second half.
“When Chris Lykes went out, we went to Harlond, and his last seven or eight minutes of the game were the difference,” Larrañaga said. “He scored. He assisted. He defended, got a rebound, and all those things contribute.”
Said Beverly:
“He was
Miller a play already unhappy, so I couldn’t play any worse. I just went in there, tried to play my best, didn’t force anything, and I feel like I did a good job.”
“I knew it was no way I was coming out, so just going to make it happen.”
UM held Pitt to 35.9-percent shooting and 3 of 16 on 3-pointers. The Hurricanes shot 52.9 percent on Sunday.
Down two reserve bigs entering Sunday, the starting frontcourt of Miller and Waardenburg were counted on for extensive playing time. Waardenburg played all 40 minutes on Sunday, going for 7 points and 10 rebounds. Miller played 35:32, finishing with 7 points and seven rebounds.
Miller had an injury scare that as he went to the locker room momentarily at the end of the first half for an apparent head injury. He was back on the floor to start the second half, saving Miami from further frontcourt attrition.
Senior guard DJ Vasiljevic, who scored 13, also played the entire game. McGusty played 36:53.
“That all goes to stuff we did in the offseason with weight room and conditioning,” said McGusty. “I think we’re well-prepared for it, and I think we do a good job of putting together a good 45-plus minutes.”
Rather than going to 6-foot-9 freshman forward Anthony Walker, Larrañaga went small with a four-guard lineup when Miller was off the floor. Freshman guards Beverly and Isaiah Wong were the only two bench players to see action.
The Hurricanes were already without redshirt sophomore forward/center Deng Gak to a season-ending knee injury. Redshirt senior forward Keith Stone is out indefinitely with a knee injury of his own, as the team announced ahead of last Tuesday’s loss at Louisville.
UM led Pitt, 31-22, at the half. Starting with the 16-0 lead, the Panthers used an 18-2 run to pull even at 18 before the Hurricanes regained their footing for the remainder of the half thanks to 15 of McGusty’s 19 points coming before intermission. Lykes picked up the three early fouls and only played nine minutes in the opening half.
Miami plays at N.C. State on Wednesday before returning home to host Florida State on Saturday.