Miami Hurricanes Dominated in Second Half in Loss at Duke

The Miami Hurricanes were unable to maintain their strong play in the second half after taking a 36-25 lead at halftime as they fell 70-58 at Duke. The game was the third straight road game for UM as they went 1-2 away from home.

Miami got off to an excellent start. They led 18-11 halfway through the first half and extended the lead to 36-25 at halftime. Miami led by as many as 12 in the first half. The Hurricanes made six of their 12 three-point attempts before halftime and held Duke to 28.6 percent shooting, including 0-8 from behind the arc.

The 25 points Duke scored were a season low in a half for the Blue Devils. Its seems as if Miami is going to go as far as their defense and Davon Reed, Ja’Quan Newton and Bruce Brown take them offensively. Those three combined to score 47 of the Hurricanes 58 points.

The second half was a near complete reversal. Duke shot 16-24 after halftime, including 5-8 on three-point attempts and dominated the second half, outscoring Miami 45-22 in a 70-58 victory. Reed continued to shine finishing with 19 points, four rebounds and three steals. He also made five of his eight three-point attempts.

Brown finished with 15 points, five rebounds and six assists and Newton bounced back from a poor game at Wake Forest with 13 points and three rebounds. The rest of the team shot 5-19 from the floor. Dewan Huell did finish 3-5 from the floor, but finished with just seven points and three rebounds in 26 minutes.

Miami went the first 7:26 of the second half without a field goal. Duke was on a 20-0 run by the time the Hurricanes made their first shot from the field after halftime. They stretched the run to 31-4 to open up a 56-40 lead with 8:17 remaining. The Blue Devils took their biggest least at 66-45 3:03 later on a Luke Kennard three-point shot. That culminated a 41-9 stretch to begin the second half.

The Hurricanes inconsistent offense and lack of scoring inside has hurt them all season. Huell, Kamari Murphy and Ebuka Izundu combined for 11 points in 67 combined minutes on the floor. Murphy did contribute a Miami season high 15 rebounds.

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Duke got great balance with four players in double figures. The Blue Devils bench was the difference in the game. The Hurricanes were outscored 31-0 off the bench. Freshman Jayson Tatum led Duke with 14.

Senior guard Matt Jones came off bench and was the Blue Devils second leading scorer with 13. Freshmen Frank Jackson and Marques Bolden contributed 10 and eight off the bench. Kennard had 11, but only shot 3-8 from the floor.

Jones scored all of his points after halftime. The Hurricanes inability to get scoring in the paint continues to hurt them. It’s tough to rely on the outside shots to fall continuously. ESPN covered it in their post game analysis:

"“Duke’s Matt Jones scored all 13 of his points in the second half, 11 coming on shots from outside the paint (4-of-4). Miami was 1-of-9 on shots from outside the paint in the second half after going 7-of-19 in the first half. Duke reversed form, too, going 7-of-11 from outside the paint in the second half after an 0-for-12 first half.”"

Turnovers and the lack of offensive efficiency also hurt Miami. The Hurricanes turned the ball over six times in the first half, 12 in the second. Seven of those 12 second half turnovers came in the first five minutes of the second half when Duke turned the game around. Miami only had ten assists to the 18 turnovers. Duke had only ten turnovers.

Jim Larranaga was clearly not happy with his team’s effort after halftime saying “I think the guys must have thought we won the game at halftime”.

Next: Time for Miami, ACC, FBS to end Games Against FCS Teams

Next Game: Miami returns home for the first time in nearly two weeks when they begin a three game homestead against Boston College.

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