The Miami Hurricanes begin their 2018-19 basketball season by hosting Patriot League Favorite Lehigh. The Hurricanes are coming off of a 22-10 season. They finished third in the ACC and advanced to their third consecutive NCAA Tournament.
The Miami Hurricanes season opener against Lehigh is tougher than it appears. The Patriot League favorites already have a game under their belt and are a good team that shoots the three-point shot well.
The Mountain Hawks are led by Dr. Brett Reed who is in his 12th season. Lehigh travels to Miami after winning their season opener 85-61 at Monmouth on Tuesday night. They are expected to be led by Miami Lance Tejada this season. the 6’2 Senior guard was named to the first-team All-Patriot League in the preseason.
Tejada struggled in the season opener. He shot 2-14 from the floor and missed all six of his three-point shots. Tejada finished with four points, four rebounds and four assists. Lehigh was able to overcome Tejada’s poor night with an impressive shooting display by his teammates and exceptional defense.
The Mountain Hawks made 49.2 percent of their shots from the floor and 40.2 percent of their three-point attempts in their season-opening victory over Monmouth.
Junior forward Pat Andree was Lehigh’s best player on Tuesday night. He finished with 31 points and eight rebounds. Andree was 9-15 from the floor and 6-10 on threes.
Despite their star having an off night, four Mountain Hawks finished in double figures. Guards Jordan Cohen and Kyle Leufroy are also players to watch. Both had excellent games against the Hawks. Cohen finished with 15, five and four, Leufroy 15, nine and four.
The emphasis for the Miami Hurricanes in 2018-19 is going to be very different than it was last season. The Hurricanes lost their star perimeter trio of Bruce Brown, Ja’Quan Newton and Lonnie Walker. Brown and Walker declared early for the NBA Draft.
Brown played two seasons with Miami but missed the final 13 games last season. Walker left for the NBA after his only season with the Hurricanes.
The 2018-19 Miami Hurricanes will be built around point guard Chris Lykes and center-forward Dewan Hernandez. The Hurricanes success this will largely depend on Lykes and Hernandez playing off off each other. Miami will also play a lot more inside-out than they did last season.
Miami has a lot of depth up front. Hernandez, centers Deng Gak and Ebuka Izundu and forward Sam Waardenburg are all 6’10 or taller. Waardenburg is a prototypical stretch four who led Miami in three-point percentage last season at 43.8 percent.
Miami has to use its size and athleticism against Lehigh to their advantage. Lykes ability to penetrate and find the open shooters like Waardenburg, his starting mate in the backcourt Dejan Vasiljevic and Senior Graduate transfer Zach Johnson, plus the big fellas inside will be vital against the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh’s defense was exceptional against Monmouth. The Hawks shot 33.9 percent from the floor and just 19 percent on three-point attempts. Monmouth was able to get to the free throw line often. They were 19 of 24 from the charity stripe.
Larranaga expects Miami to shoot more three-pointers than they did last season. The Hurricanes Head Coach said that he expects Miami to attempt 20-25 three-pointers this season. Miami averaged 21.1 three-point attempts in 2017-18, that was 214th nationally.
If Miami does get to the free throw line against Lehigh, they have to be able to convert. The Hurricanes were 294th last season in free throw attempts and 317th in percentage. Miami and Lehigh tipoff at 7 PM ET on ACC Network Extra.