Miami basketball puts game away late winning at Louisville
The Miami basketball team held on late for a 70-63 victory at Louisville on Wednesday night. Miami earned its third straight victory. The Hurricanes needed a Kameron McGusty jumper with 35 seconds remaining in the game and two seconds left on the shot clock extending the Hurricanes lead to 66-61.
El Ellis missed a three-point shot on the next Louisville possession. Charlie Moore made a pair of free throws for Miami and Issiah Wong sealed the game with a dunk for the first win for Miami at Louisville. Moore and Wong scored 15, McGusty 14, Jordan Miller scored 10 with seven rebounds, Sam Waardenburg had eight and nine.
Miami assistant coach Chris Caputo said on the post-game show that it was a team effort in the victory. The Hurricanes are now 18-1 overall and have won 17 straight games when they score 65 points or more. Miami improved to 19-7 overall and 11-4 in the ACC. The Hurricanes are in third place, a game behind first-place Duke.
Louisville lost their seventh straight game. Dre Davis led Louisville with 18 points, Ellis scored 17 and Noah Locke scored 10. Miami got off to a good start with an early 13-0 run to take a 16-6 lead. The Hurricanes maintained a healthy lead throughout the first half. Miami twice led by 12 in the opening 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes had a 35-25 lead at halftime. Louisville hung around throughout the second half. Miami extended the lead to 64-54 on an Isaiah Wong three-point shot with 3:31 remaining. Seven straight points for Louisville cut the lead for the Miami basketball team to three with 1:10 remaining on a shot by Ellis.
The Miami basketball team responded by outscoring Louisville 6-2 in the final 1:10. Moore, McGusty and Wong all scored in the final minute to help secure the victory. The Hurricanes team play with 16 assists on 28 made baskets was a big reason for the victory. Both teams took care of the ball with only 10 turnovers each.
The difference was Louisville had only six assists. Former Miami forward Matt Cross did not score and had one turnover in seven minutes. Louisville outscored Miami 15 to eight off the bench. Anthony Walker had six points and two rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench for Miami. Locke came off the bench for Louisville.
Next. ESPN snubs Jim Larranaga as ACC Coach of the Year. dark
Miami returns to the Watsco Center on Saturday to host Virginia in the penultimate home game of the season. The Hurricanes lost 71-58 in Charlottesville on February 5. Virginia had a five-game winning streak broken on Monday night at Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers are tied for fifth in the ACC with Wake Forest at 10-6.