Miami suffered its second inexplicable loss this season, falling to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at the Watsco Center. With the loss, Miami is 4-8. Mount St. Mary's was the second NCAA Net Ratings quadrant one home loss this season. Charleston Southern won at Miami earlier this season.
Mount St. Mary's outscored Miami 50-36 in the second half and overtime to earn its second win over an ACC opponent. Miami falls to 4-8 with the loss. Matthew Cleveland led Miami with 19 points but made only six of 15 from the floor and one of his four three-point attempts with six rebounds.
Freshman Jalil Bethea scored a career-high 17 points and Jalen Blackmon scored 16 as the other Hurricanes in double figures. Five players scored in double-figures for Mount St. Mary's led by Terrell Ard with 18 points. Dola Adebayo scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds.
Miami shot 40.6 percent from the floor, made only five out of their 25 three-point attempts and two of eight in overtime. Mount St. Mary's shot 50 percent from the floor and made eight of its 19 three-point attempts. The Mountaineers made 18 of their 33 field goal attempts in the second half and overtime.
Final: Mount St. Mary 78, Miami 74
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) December 21, 2024
After shooting 45.7 percent in the first half, Miami shot 38.6 percent in the second half before the abysmal overtime. Mount St. Mary's made four of its seven three-point field goals in the second half to 1-9 for Miami. The biggest lead for Miami was 38-26 just before the end of the first half.
Miami led by eight with 10 minutes left before a 7-0 Mount St. Mary's run got them back in the game. The Mountaineers took their first lead of the second half at 66-64 with 2:05 remaining. Miami needed a Bethea layup with 1:25 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. Neither team scored in the last 1:25 of regulation.
Lynn Kidd initially gave Miami the lead in overtime with the first points of the extra session. Mount St. Mary's outscored Miami 16-6 the rest of overtime. Miami is off until January 1 when they play at Boston College to resume ACC play. Miami lost earlier this month to Clemson to begin its ACC schedule.