Kentucky runs Miami basketball out of Rupp Arena
Kentucky used an 8-0 run to take a 42-37 halftime lead and had a dominant second half to put the game away in a 95-73 win over the Miami basketball team on Tuesday night. The Wildcats opened the second half 31-10 to extend their halftime lead to 73-47 and cruised to the win over the last 12 minutes.
Kentucky had five players score in double figures led by true freshman Reed Shepard with 21 points. Wooga Poplar and Norchad Omier were the only offense for the Miami basketball team. Omier scored 20 points on 6-10 from the floor, 7-7 from the line and had six rebounds before fouling out with 7:41 remaining.
Poplar finished 19 points and eight rebounds. No one else for Miami had more than 10 points. Kentucky dominated Miami off the floor in nearly every way. The Wildcats had a 23-7 in fast break points, 38-23 in bench points, 48-32 in points in the paint and 26-8 advantage in assists.
Kentucky turned Miami into a jump-shooting team. Miami entered the game first nationally shooting 45.8 percent on three-point attempts. The Hurricanes shot 26-59 in Rupp Arena. Poplar and Omier combined to shoot 13-23. The rest of the Miami players combined to shoot 13-36.
Miami will have to improve significantly defensively. Kentucky shot 59.7 percent from the floor and made nine of 21 three-point attempts. Shepard shot 8-13 from the floor and made five of his nine three-point attempts. Nijel Pack had maybe his worst game of the season. Pack scored two points on 1-6 from the floor.
One positive is that Jim Larranaga was able to play the younger players on the roster more minutes than expected in a hostile road environment. Freshman center Michael Nwoko scored a career-high eight points and added six rebounds. Freshman guard Kyshawn George was Miami’s third-leading scorer with 10 points.
Next. Miami moves up in both national polls and power rankings. dark
Miami will have to put the blowout loss behind them quickly. Miami will begin ACC play on Saturday when they host 3-3 Notre Dame. The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish have a noon tipoff on the CW. Notre Dame lost 65-53 at South Carolina in their ACC-SEC Challenge game on Tuesday night.