Miami Hurricanes Basketball: Canes Throttle Duke In 80-69 “Big Monday” Win

There was a time not too long ago when the Miami Hurricanes beating the Duke Blue Devils was an upset. That’s no longer the case.

In a comprehensive victory using another balanced scoring effort, the No. 15 Canes ran all over the No. 24 Blue Devils on their way to an 80-69 victory. The win improved the Hurricanes to 16-3 overall and 5-2 in the ACC, keeping Miami in the hunt for the ACC Regular Season title.

From the get-go Miami looked like the stronger team and were boosted by another strong outing from Angel Rodriguez. The much-maligned redshirt senior hit two early threes to get the packed BankUnited Center rocking and his teammates followed suit with a few threes of their own to build a 21-16 lead through the first 10 minutes.

Against a high-powered Duke offense, the Miami defense continued their impressive run as they held the Blue Devils to a poor shooting percentage and not much success anywhere on the court. The key to stifling Duke lay in limiting Duke’s superstar sophomore Grayson Allen and the Canes did just that.

Coming into the game, Allen was averaging 22.9 points a game in Duke’s 15 wins, while he averaged just 13.2 points a game in their five losses. Well, Sheldon McClellan made sure those five losses became six. Allen managed just seven first-half points on 2-of-7 shooting as Miami took a 35-31 lead to the break.

Out of the break Miami held to form in dominating in the second half as the Canes used a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 45-35. Even as the Blue Devils would inch their way back, the Hurricanes would gain the momentum right back in their favor with a big block or an alley-oop often finished by McClellan. While the Texas transfer was phenomenal for the Canes, he certainly had plenty of help along the way.

Davon Reed and Ja’Quan Newton each scored nine second-half points and while Tonye Jekiri didn’t get into double figures in scoring, the big man grabbed 10 rebounds and also pitched in with three assists.

As the game entered the final minutes the same formula would repeat itself as Miami would build a big lead only for Duke to cut the lead to single-digits. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they never pulled even again. The Hurricanes finished with a few ferocious dunks from McClellan and Newton and the electric BankUnited Center crowd erupted as Coach Larranaga picked up his fourth win in six games against Duke as Miami’s head man.

“That was the most physical game we have played all season,” Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game. “They are just better than we are and they are certainly one of the best teams out there.”

Sheldon McClellan’s 21 points and defending on Allen who finished with just 17 points were crucial, while Ja’Quan Newton had another impressive game with 15 points of his own. After the game though, it wasn’t either of those guys that got the praise from Duke’s legendary coach, it was Angel Rodriguez.

“Rodriguez was a great leader for them tonight.” Coach K said of Miami’s starting point guard. “When he plays like that this [Miami] team is on a whole different level.”

If you weren’t convinced by Coach K’s praise or Rodriguez’s scoring on the night, you could look to his distribution which was phenomenal as the Puerto Rico native finished with 10 assists and his first double-double of the season. He also showed once again that against the big teams, the 5’11” point guard plays at his best. Even after his wonderful performance though, Rodriguez showed his leadership and experience that has done so much for this Miami team.

“I like playing the powerhouses and that’s why you come to play in the ACC,” the redshirt senior said after the game. “At the end of the day though are goals are bigger than just beating Duke. Our goal is to win every single game that we can and eventually give ourselves a chance at that ACC title.”

A win over Duke might not have the luster it did a year ago, but Miami had no trouble with the Blue Devils and showed their intent once again that they can compete for the regular season conference title. This team can score with the best of them and as they showed tonight by limiting a Duke squad that came in averaging 85.7 points a game to 69, they can defend with the best of them as well.

Not too long ago Miami beating Duke was a big deal, now though, it’s just the expectation.