Miami Hurricanes defeat Barry 91-61 in exhibition opener
The Miami Hurricanes defeated South Florida Rival, Division II Barry University in their 2018-19 season opener in an exhibition game on Tuesday night at the Watsco Center.
The game was close for the first eight minutes. The Miami Hurricanes pulled away from a 14 all tie with a nine to two run to surge to a 25-16 lead in just over three and a half minutes. The Hurricanes cruised from there. A pair of Dejan Vasiljevic free throws with 11:42 remaining in the first half put the Hurricanes ahead to stay.
Miami took a 41-33 lead over the Buccaneers at halftime. Vasiljevic finished the night with 17 points on four of eight from the floor, two of five on three-point attempts and made all seven of his free throws.
The Junior native of Canada who grew up in Australia also finished with five rebounds, two assists and one steal. He was in the starting lineup with Sophomore point guard Chris Lykes, Junior big man Dewan Hernandez (nee Huell), Sophomore power forward Sam Waardenburg and Junior forward Anthony Lawrence.
Waardenburg was starting for the first time in his career. The native of New Zealand missed his only shot and went scoreless. He added one rebound, one assist and one blocked shot. Waardenburg isn’t likely to hold on to his starting spot long.
Zach Johnson a Graduate Transfer from Florida Gulf Coast is likely to take Waardenburg’s place in the starting lineup eventually. Like Lonnie Walker last season, Johnson is working his way back from surgery and getting to know the Miami system. Earlier this month, Miami Hurricanes Head Coach Jim Larranaga discussed Johnson.
"“That [starting job] won’t be answered for a long time until Zach knows our system…We need Zach Johnson back because he can create shots for others. DJ never turns the ball over but doesn’t get a lot of assists.”"
Johnson was outstanding in his Miami Hurricanes debut. He made six of his ten shots from the floor, one of his two three-point attempts and four of five from three-point range. Johnson finished with 17 points, three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
No one can replace Walker and Bruce Brown who are both in the NBA. Johnson is the player on this year’s Miami roster whose skill set most closely resembles Brown and Walker’s.
Hernandez had a dominant performance that Hurricanes fans have been waiting for since the McDonald’s All-American arrives on campus two years ago. He finished with 19 points on nine of 11 from the floor, including making his only three-point attempt, 10 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
Hernandez also had five turnovers, which was a third of the Hurricanes 15. That’s concerning against a Division II school. Miami was able to force 15 Buccaneers turnovers to at least keep the margin even.
The 11 assists for Miami was also troubling. UM had a 1.15 assist to turnover margin in 2017-18. That has to be improved.
Backup Center Ebuka Izundu, Lawrence and Lykes also finished in double figures with 13, 11 and 10 points respectfully. Lykes finished three of 10 night from the floor, two of six on three-point attempts and had three turnover and three assists. As the point guard this year he needs to take better care of the ball.
Next. Miami should be able to exceed prediction of 10th in ACC. dark
Miami next plays a week from Friday, November 9 in the season opener at the Watsco Center against Lehigh. The Hurricanes and Mountain Hawks, formerly the Engineers will be playing for the seventh time. This will be their first meeting since Miami 79-58 in December 2006. The Hurricanes lead the all-time series six to one.