Miami basketball falters again in the second half in loss at Louisville
After leading by as many as 15 in the first half, the Miami basketball team had another rough second half in a 90-73 loss at Louisville. Miami drops to 8-6 overall and 0-2 in the ACC.
The Miami basketball team bolted out to an 8-2 lead before expanding it to 30-15 with 9:28 remaining in the first half. A 14-2 Louisville run got the Cardinals back in the game and they trailed 41-40 at halftime.
A 16-2 Louisville run in the second half turned a 50-47 Miami lead in a 63-52 lead for the Cardinals. Louisville led by as many as 18 a few times and coasted home with a double-digit lead for the last ten minutes. Miami’s lack of depth did them in again.
Zach Johnson and Dejan Vasiljevic led Miami with 19 points and Chris Lykes had 18 for the Hurricanes. The rest of the Miami basketball roster combined for 18 points. Miami did just about everything well, but turnovers and lack of assists were ultimately a big difference in the game.
Miami Hurricanes
The Hurricanes committed 13 turnovers to just seven for the Cardinals. Louisville had 19 assists to Miami’s seven. Louisville’s balanced scoring also was a key in their victory. The Cardinals had five players in double figures. Jordan Nwora who led Louisville with 20 is the only Cardinals player averaging double figures this season.
Miami did a great job on Nwora in the second half. Nwora reached his 17.8 points per game average at halftime to keep Louisville in the game in the first half.
After making seven of their 14 three-point attempts in the first half, Miami made only three-of-12 after halftime. The Hurricanes have lived and died by the three-point attempt all season. With only seven scholarship players on the roster, Miami has to play their game almost perfectly to win.
Ebuka Izundu continues to be a Warrior upfront for Miami. What was once going to be the depth of the team, Izundu is the one remaining low post player the Hurricanes have this season. Izundu had eight points and ten rebounds in the loss to Louisville on Sunday night.
Miami’s inability to stretch the lead in the first half hindered them again. The Hurricanes scored one point in the final 4:30 as both teams went cold.
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The Hurricanes will play the second of two straight on the road when they travel to Tallahassee to play Florida State on Wednesday night. The game will tipoff at 9:00 PM ET on ACC Network extra. Florida State is coming off of a 65-52 loss at Virginia in their ACC Opener.