Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball comes alive in second half to defeat UNC Greensboro

The first half of the Miami men’s basketball team’s game against the UNC Greensboro Spartans ended a little too familiar to the Hurricanes’ previous contest.

On Monday night versus Lafayette, the Canes trailed by two at the end of the first period. On Friday night, they sat behind the Spartans by one.

But again Miami significantly upped its offensive production in the second period to capture the win, scoring 33 points in the first half to 46 in the second. The Hurricanes, fueled by a fervent student section and home crowd, defeated UNC Greensboro 79-65 Friday night at the Watsco Center.

The Hurricanes struggled with shooting from three in the first half, succeeding on only 3-of-10 attempts. Guard Jordan Miller hit two of three he attempted up but was the only player in white to score beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes. Miami then opened the second period with three triples in a row — two by Nijel Pack, who made four against Lafayette, and one by Wooga Poplar.

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, UM scored 25 points. The Hurricanes made nine of their 17 field-goal attempts in that time period, good enough for a shooting percentage of 52.9. They also sank 5 of 9 three-point attempts, or 55.6% of their shots beyond the arc. The number of shots — and makes — far outpaced their production in the first half.

“Tonight, they [the Spartans] forced sideline and put a lot of pressure on you to go to the basket,” UM coach Jim Larrañaga said of UNC Greenboro’s defense. “But when you go to the basket, there’s a big guy waiting for you. So you have to pass. That’s how we ended up with 19 assists. We kicked it out and got a three.”

The Canes ended the night with threes from six different players, including Isaiah Wong, Miller, Pack, Poplar, Joseph Bensley and Harlon Beverly. Three players finished with double-figures: Miller (19), Wong (15) and Pack (14).

“He can do everything,” Larrañaga said of Miller. “He can handle the ball. He can shoot the three. The one thing we’re not getting for him, because of the way people are defending him, is we’re not getting them those drives. He tried a couple of times early. Lost the handle on one, missed one of the shots. But as we play and go further along, he’ll be able to do a lot of things because he’s like a jack-of-all trades.”

UM also committed 10 turnovers in the first half, gifting the Spartans 15 of their 34 first-half points.

“The first half we had way too many,” Larrañaga said. “Five in the second half is fine. Five or six a half, that’s good ball control. But when we start to get up into 12, 14, 15 that’s a real problem.”

Arkansas State transfer Norchad Omier, who snagged 15 rebounds (eight offensive, seven defensive) against Lafayette on Monday, continued to dominate on the boards Friday. The 6-7 and 250-pound forward grabbed seven rebounds in the first half against the Spartans (three offensive, four defensive). He ended the night with 11.

Heading into Friday, Wong was just three points away from UM’s top 20 in scoring and 13 points from No. 18 with 1,284. He scored his third and fourth points of the night off consecutive free throws with 2:57 left in the first half. UNC Greensboro held the preseason First Team All-ACC guard to just four points in the first 20 minutes of game time.

Friday’s contest was the second of three home games for the Canes, who play Florida A&M on Tuesday before traveling to Uncasville, Connecticut, for the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 19-20.