It was a day of milestones for Miami Hurricanes Men’s basketball.
The ’Canes (9-2) recorded a program-record 29 assists en route to a 104-79 demolition of the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (3-9) for their fourth consecutive victory.
Individual performances spurred the team’s dominance on Saturday, with three starters registering double-double performances and six total players scoring double figures.
Miami once again dominated physically, ousting ULM in the interior by a margin of 62-22 points in the paint. They also continued to impose their will off the glass, outrebounding their opponent 45-26.
The Hurricanes had the hot hand early, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the opening three minutes. The Warhawks then battled from behind, ripping off seven points unanswered to even the score at 17-17.
A triple by Tre Donaldson triggered a 13-0 run that allowed UM to seize control and storm to a comfortable 30-17 advantage. Tru Washington would drill a three-point buzzer beater to close out the half with a double-digit cushion, leading by 11 at the break.
Miami and Louisiana-Monroe traded buckets back-and-forth in the first five minutes of the second half. ULM was efficient throughout the entire afternoon, shooting an impressive 47% from the perimeter to keep the ’Canes at bay.
Finally, supported behind a 10-0 run started by Donaldson, Miami slammed the door shut on the Warhawks by taking a 21-point lead, 75-54.
Timo Malovec was one of Miami’s bench players who exploded in the second half, going 4-4 beyond the arc and scoring all 12 points in the final 20 minutes. Noam Dovrat notched a career-high 10 points off the bench, and Washington added 13.
The core trio of Malik Reneau, Tre Donalson, and Ernest Udeh carried the day, each posting a double-double. Reneau poured in a game-high 22 points along with 10 rebounds. Donaldson tallied 18 points and led the team with 11 assists, and Udeh was a force underneath the rim, grabbing 15 boards in addition to 14 points on 6-of-8 field goal shooting.
It was another productive day at the office for Miami, who shot 60% from the floor. This mark matches their total percentage on the season, which currently ranks top 25 in the nation.
The Hurricanes have continued to blow out opponents all year, thumping the Warhawks by 25. Entering today’s matchup, UM’s wins had been by an average margin of victory of 20.3 points.
Despite the successful result, head coach Jai Lucas was frustrated by the team’s defensive efforts.
“We pride ourselves on being a defensive team, and tonight we were non-existent on the defensive end,” Lucas said. “You get a team that shoots the ball the way they did, it’s hard for any coach to be happy, even though you win by a large amount,”
Miami returns to the hardwood on Tuesday night at the Watsco Center against FIU (5-3) in the Battle for the 305. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
