Miami basketball more impressive in second game in Italy

After surviving late to win the first game on their trip to Italy the Miami basketball team won handily on the second of three games in the land of the Azzurri.

The Miami basketball team improved to 2-0 on their Italian trip with a 105-75 blowout victory over BC Šilute Wednesday night in Montecatini Terme in the Tuscany region Italy. The victory came one night after a 73-69 victory against Stella Azzurra Academy in Rome on Monday.

Wednesday’s win was even more impressive than the final score. Miami rallied from 16 points down in the first quarter and dominated the final 31 minutes of the game to prevail. D.J. Vasiljevic continued his hot summer scoring in Italy with 20 points for the second straight night. The Australian also had six rebounds, five offensive.

Miami used a 37-9 run to flip a 29-13 deficit into a 50-38 lead with 2:23 to go before halftime. The Hurricanes ended the third quarter with an 83-57 lead. The run all told was 70-28 after falling behind by 16 in the first quarter. Miami extended the lead to as many as 33 before BC Šilute made a three at the final buzzer.

Five Hurricanes including Vasiljevic finished in double figures. Freshman Isaiah Wong had his second straight impressive performance with 17 points and seven rebounds. Wong made six of his 10 shots from the floor two of his four three-point attempts and all three of his free throws.

Junior Oklahoma transfer guard Kameron McGusty contributed 16 points, seven rebounds and a team-leading seven assists, 2018-19 leading scorer junior guard Chris Lykes had 13 points and four assists.

Redshirt junior forward Sam Waardenburg will be a key big for the Miami basketball team in 2019-20. The New Zealand native had10 points and led Miami 13 rebounds and three blocks. Redshirt junior center Rodney Miller, Jr. had his second straight nice outing with nine points and ten rebounds.