Dewan Huell continues to impress. The freshman forward had his fifth double-figure scoring game of the season in his first start, and senior guard Davon Reed had a game-high 18 points as Miami went on to win 73-61 against the then undefeated Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Hurricanes are now 4-0 on its home floor.
“I knew I was going to start yesterday,” said Huell, who finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. “I went to sleep happy and woke up even happier. I think I woke up my entire hall with my music this morning.”
After dropping two consecutive games in the AdvoCare Invitational last week, the Canes (5-2) showed some grit on Wednesday night. It was a game of ups and downs for Miami, but the team hit its stride at the right time, going on a 17-0 run in the second half to seal the game.
Reed set the tone from the tipoff, knocking down two quick three-pointers to put the Canes up 12-4 by the first media timeout.
“We have to get him more open looks,” Head Coach Jim Larrañaga said of Reed. “We’re working on it right now, but we need to find him more regularly.”
The Hurricanes were able to get the Scarlet Knight (6-1) bigs in foul trouble early on in the contest, giving Miami momentum, but Rutgers would continue to claw its way back into the game, led by guard Mike Williams facilitating the offense.
After struggling for the last ten minutes of the first half, Miami made adjustments and came out of the gates hot in the second half.
Miami will play Wofford College at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday at the AmericanAirlines Arena as part of the HoopHall Miami Invitational. Larrañaga stressed how much of a challenge that game will be for the Canes defense.
“They have a fantastic coach and they shoot threes from everywhere,” Larrañaga said. “If they can make a lot of threes on us, that will be a problem. Our defense needs to be ready.”