Miami took on the second ranked nationally Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night which resulted in a 37 point loss (97-60). Despite the blowout defeat, here’s what we can take away from Miami’s showing.
Freshman Impact
Miami’s five star freshman guard Jalil Bethea shined in the first half posting up 11 of his night’s 13 points and adding two steals with that. While there have been concerns about his defensive impact, he had a good showing on the opposite end of the floor staying active and creating deflections. Bethea ran the floor well and created some good looks for his teammates which didn’t show up in the stat sheet, but he also made some careless mistakes turning over the ball four times over the course of his 31 minutes logged.
“He’s capable of being that player, when he keeps it simple like that he can be very effective and they picked up their defense on him in the second half, didn’t give him as many good looks, but he’s a very talented kid,” said interim head coach Bill Courtney.
UM’s freshman guard Divine Ugochukwu did a little bit of everything, putting up six points, ten rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Ugochukwu outrebounded both of Miami’s centers and displayed his impressive ability to crash the boards against the tallest team in the nation.
“We’ve been trying to get our guards to rebound the whole season. He really stepped up tonight, I thought he was terrific,” stated Courtney.
Threes wouldn’t fall
With Duke’s heavy paint presence, the Canes’ were forced to step out and shoot from beyond the arc. Miami ranks nationally as one of the worst three point shooting teams and that trend continued in Tuesday’s contest. UM shot just 4-for-17 from three in the first half with Bethea knocking down three of those.
“Anything inside the three point line is challenged. They’re so good at beating screens, switching, being in the right position that you have to get it there and kick it out,” said Courtney.
Duke’s 3 point ability
The Blue Devils are among one of the best three point shooting teams in the nation ranking 15th in three point percentage, but in tonight’s showing especially they just couldn’t miss. While Miami missed some closeouts and were slow to get back on defense at points, the Blue Devils were just knocking down tough contested shots. Duke shot a whopping 60 percent from three knocking down 15-of-25 from beyond the arc.
“I think we gave effort defensively, but when you play a team that is that good at passing the ball, they make you pay for any mistake. They’re an incredibly tough team to guard, they can all knock down from three point range,” said Courtney.
No Matt Cleveland
If the Canes’ wanted any chance of keeping this game tight, they would have needed their senior leader Matthew Cleveland. Cleveland suffered an ankle injury against Florida State and has now missed his past two games. Cleveland leads the team in points per game with 16.3 and would have played a key role in Tuesday’s ACC matchup. With the absence of Pack and Cleveland, Miami’s roster was strung just too thin.