Miami basketball hampered by injuries blown out by Notre Dame
The Miami basketball team suffered another blow out loss to Notre Dame as injuries continued to sideline multiple players. Senior guard Chris Lykes missed his 12th game in a row and the Hurricanes also played without sophomore forward Anthony Walker and freshman wing Earl Timberlake.
After playing in just his third game in over a month, senior guard Kameron McGusty had a season-high 20 points. McGusty was efficient making eight of his 15 shots from the floor and three of his five three-point attempts. Notre Dame led by eight at halftime and gradually extended the lead to 19 in the second half.
Miami cut the lead to 63-56 with 4:34 remaining. A 6-0 Fighting Irish response put the game out of reach. Poor three-point shooting did Miami in for the third time in the last four games. The Hurricanes made just nine of its 63 three-point attempts in its last three losses.
Miami had to play a seven-man rotation for the majority of the game. The Hurricanes defense was also lackluster in the 73-59 loss to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish 53.8 percent from the floor and made 10 of 18 three-point field goals. Continually playing shorthanded this season has been too much for Miami.
Sophomore guard Isaiah Wong scored 16 points. Wong struggled from the floor going 6-17 and made just one of his eight three-point attempts. Lykes’ high school teammate Prentiss Hubb led Notre Dame with 19. Hubb made seven of his 12 three-point attempts.
Juwan Durham and Nate Laszewski were the other Fighting Irish players in double-figures. Assistant head coach Chris Caputo was disappointed in the lost defensive edge Miami had through the first 10 games. Senior guard Elijah Olaniyi was the only other Miami player in double figures with 10.
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Miami drops to 6-8 overall with the loss and 2-7 in the ACC. Notre Dame improved to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. Thirteenth place Miami plays at second-place Florida State on Wednesday. Seminoles are 9-2 overall, 5-1 in the ACC one game behind Virginia. Miami is quickly heading towards their third straight losing season.