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Miami Hurricanes Defense Fails Them in Loss at Syracuse

By Alan Rubenstein

Jan 4, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Lydon (20) takes the ball to the basket as Miami Hurricanes forward Kamari Murphy (21) and guard Davon Reed (5) defend during the second half at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won 70-55. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 4, 2017; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange forward Tyler Lydon (20) takes the ball to the basket as Miami Hurricanes forward Kamari Murphy (21) and guard Davon Reed (5) defend during the second half at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse won 70-55. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Miami Hurricanes entered their game at Syracuse with the nation’s seventh best scoring defense. The Hurricanes allowed the Orange to Shoot 56.8 percent from the floor and 42.3 percent on threes in a 70-55 loss in their first road ACC road game of the season.

Miami entered the game allowing 59.8 points per game. They were shredded by Syracuse throughout the game. The Orange shot 60 percent in the first half and 54.2 percent after halftime. The Hurricanes defense defended the three well before halftime, Syracuse shot just 3-9 from beyond the arc. They connected on five of ten after the break.

The Hurricanes also failed to achieve the balance offensively that they had in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener against North Carolina State. Four Hurricanes finished in double figures in Miami’s 81-61 victory over the Wolfpack.

DJ Vasiljevic was able to shoot over the vaunted Syracuse matchup zone. He finished with 18 points on six of 12 from the floor. All of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc. Vasiljevic missed both of his free throw attempts.

Davon Reed had a string of nine straight games in double figures snapped. Reed, Ja’Quan Newton and Bruce Brown all entered the game averaging double figures. Reed scored a season low six points, finishing 2-11 from the floor and 2-7 from three-point range.

Newton had a season tying low of eight. It was just his second game of the season not reaching double figures. Newton leads the team in scoring at 15.2 PPG and in assists at 4.1 per game. Newton did finish with seven assists on the night and the Hurricanes had 15 on 21 made baskets. Brown finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Despite the high assist rate, Jim Larranga was not happy with his offense.

"“I think we could have taken maybe five or six more [3-pointers] if we just caught it and shot it…Instead we hesitated, we dribbled it, we tried to drive into the lane and then we’re taking a contested two, which is definitely not what we wanted to do…”On the other (offensive) end, we did not want to take a lot of shots off the dribble,”"

Miami made just 38.9 percent of its shots from the floor, but did finish 11-26 from three. The Hurricanes are 127th in the country in three-point percentage. Vasiljevic would be in the top 50 in the country in three-point percentage with enough attempts.

Syracuse’s leading scorers Andrew White III and Tyler Lydon did most of the damage. White scored 22 points, had ten rebounds and hit 4-9 from three-point range. Lydon finished with 20 and 7, connected on two of his three three-point attempts and added three blocks.

Next: How Would a College Football Playoff Have Impacted Miami In Past Seasons?

Miami is off until next Thursday when it hosts Notre Dame at the Watsco Center. The Fighting Irish is coming off of a big win over Louisville Wednesday night. The Irish face Clemson Saturday. This will be the first of five teams currently ranked that Miami will play at home this season.

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