Miami Hurricanes Basketball: Canes Win Puerto Rico Tip-Off With Thrilling Victory Over Butler

This season for the Miami Hurricanes is about correcting a wrong from last season. It’s about making a statement to show this team and this program can’t be overlooked anymore.

After this weekend in Puerto Rico, I think that statement has certainly been made.

Finally facing their first game with real adversity, the unranked Canes defeated the No. 22 Butler Bulldogs 85-75 to win the Puerto Rico Tip-Off title.  With their victories over Mississippi State, No. 16 Utah and No.22 Butler in San Juan, the Hurricanes all but cemented their spot in the Top 15 of next week’s rankings.

Just as they had in the first two games of the tournament, Miami started off hot and began to pull away early from the well-coached Bulldogs. Sheldon McClellan struggled to get going, but it was Puerto Rico’s own, Angel Rodriguez  and Ja’Quan Newton that carried the Canes.

Whether it was Rodriguez nailing deep threes or Newton finishing in the paint, Butler couldn’t find a way to stop the Miami point guards from putting points on the board.

Maybe the most important part of the Hurricanes’ first half performance though was their defense. Despite being known for their prowess on the offensive end, the last two games have shown how good this team can be defensively.  In the first half of the championship game, the Canes forced nine turnovers and held Butler’s sharpshooter Kellen Dunham to just three first half points.

With Coach Larranaga’s squad up 42-29 at the half, it seemed the Hurricanes would pull away easily in the second half as they’d done in their previous four games, but Butler’s Dunham had other ideas.

The Bulldogs’ senior showed why he is considered one of the most dangerous shooters in the country with a second-half performance that single-handedly kept Butler in the game. Even with all the “momentum shifting” towards the Bulldogs, it was Miami’s point guard duo and a double-double performance from Tonye Jekiri that kept the lead in double-digits for most of the half.

With the score at 74-61 and just 6:22 remaining, the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead to just four and gave the Canes their first real scare of the season. Showing signs of a team with a strong backbone that is meant for March, Miami dug deep on the defensive end and hit almost all of their free throws down the stretch. For any team playing in a one-and-done scenario, free throws are big, and tonight the Canes went 22-of-24.

Despite Dunham’s 20 second half points, it wasn’t enough and the Hurricanes came away with the 85-75 victory and another impressive win over a ranked team.

Making the night even more satisfying was the fact the Canes won and didn’t get the best of nights from Sheldon McClellan who finished with just eight points and still came away with the victory. It was Ja’Quan Newton’s career-high 17 points and Tonye Jekiri’s second straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Oh, and you can’t forget the tournament MVP and Puerto Rico native Angel Rodriguez’s 19 points.

This team on any given night can be led in scoring by almost any player and the hero may be different every night. Sometimes your best player is having an off night like McClellan did, but balance is impossible to guard.

Miami came into this season wanting to right last year’s wrong of missing the NCAA Tournament, of getting a raw deal in the NIT Final and of being left off the preseason Top 25. Miami came into this year and this tournament wanting to make a statement and while there is plenty of time for them to make a bigger mark this season, a 5-0 start doesn’t hurt.