The opening to the Jai Lucas era of Miami men’s basketball started slow, but broke free in the final minutes as the Hurricanes took down the Jacksonville Dolphins 86-69 Monday night at the Watsco Center.
As the more talented team, Miami displayed flashes of dominance early on, forcing deep threes by Jacksonville and powering through the Dolphins on fast breaks in the paint.
But JU didn’t falter, as back-to-back offensive blunders by the Hurricanes led to two three-pointers in return, setting the Dolphins up 9-6.
The first half progressed much the same, with Miami fighting for points in the paint, but occasionally turning the ball over and Jacksonville capitalizing with threes and points in transition.
After the game, Lucas spoke on the reasoning behind the team’s first half struggles and inability to pull ahead.
“We had prepared a course against the 2-3 because that’s the zone that they show,” Lucas said. “They came out on the 1-3-1, so we ran our main offense against it.”
Despite Jacksonville’s decision to run a defense not utilized in multiple years, per Lucas, Miami still managed to fare well offensively, totaling 41 points in the first half.
The true struggles laid on the defensive side of the court.
“I didn’t think we were great defensively,” Lucas said, “the ball got to paint too much. I thought our ball-screen-coverage today really struggled.”
Lucas continued, though, putting a positive emphasis on the overall play of his team.
“But the one thing I am excited about is the guys just continue to battle,” he said. “They played the whole 40 minutes, and they figured it out on the fly.”
Despite a made free throw for Malik Reneau with 2:05 left to play in the first half, Miami sacrificed a nine point lead with an inability to possess the ball, letting Jacksonville back in with a six point-deficit at the half.
Contributions from true freshman Shelton Henderson both at the free-throw line and in the paint kept the ’Canes stable for the first half. But entering the second, their lead would further be threatened by a missed ‘and-one’ opportunity for Jacksonville on offense, cutting the Miami lead down to four.
Miami’s lead would never dip lower for the remainder of the game as the ’Canes began to exercise their will. Reneau and Henderson traded off two-point attempts, and a Tre Donaldson three-point play brought the lead up to 11.
Another impact addition was TCU transfer center Ernest Udeh Jr., who snagged multiple lobs from Reneau over the course of the night, hammering them down for highlight-reel dunks.
Udeh spoke on his ability to score at-will in the paint and being a lob threat for this team with the help of Reneau.
“[Their plan] was just playing downhill and, given what the defense gave me, Udeh said. “He [Reneau] did a good job sealing down low and open enough space for me to attack and to make the lob over the top when the big-man came over.”
Reneau, the transfer from Indiana, racked up 20 points over the course of his first game as a ’Cane, and Udeh shared in the wealth with 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Closing out the game, Miami reached a 20 point lead with one minute left to play, outpacing the Dolphins 45-34 after a close first-half.
With this hard-fought victory in the past, Miami looks to the near future, as they face Bethune Cookman on Thursday.
BCU, who took No. 20 Auburn into overtime, appears to be an upcoming test for the ’Canes.
But Lucas remains composed.
“You know, it’s the day of the sport,” Luca said, referring to the modern era of transfers and NIL. “Those guys usually wouldn’t be there, but they are there. So we’ve got to be ready to compete.”
The Hurricanes will face the Wildcats in the Watsco Center for their second home game of the year Nov. 6. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.