Miami Men Beat UCF Behind Darius Rice's 35 Points
Dec. 9, 2000
MIAMI (AP) – Darius Rice had 35 points and six 3-pointers as Miami snapped atwo-game losing streak with an 83-72 victory over UCF on Saturday night.
Rice, the nephew of NFL star Jerry Rice, is the first Miami player to top 30points since Johnny Hemsley had 35 against Georgetown in 1998.
John Salmons added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Miami (4-2) as he recordedhis fourth career double-double. James Jones added 10 points for theHurricanes.
Mario Lovett and Paul Reed each had 14 points to lead UCF (1-4).
Rice set a school record for most points as a freshman. Tito Horford had 30points against Florida State in 1987. He also tied Steven Edwards’ 1993 schoolrecord for most 3-pointers by a freshman.
With Rice leading, Miami broke open a six-point halftime lead. Rice scored28 points in the second half. He was six-of-nine from 3-point range and11-of-19 from the field.
Miami, now 5-0 all-time against UCF, led 40-34 at halftime.
The Hurricanes took the lead for good, 17-16, on Leroy Hurd’s layup midwaythrough the half. A 14-point run gave Miami its largest lead of the half,38-23, with 2:46 left.
The Golden Knights closed the half with a 9-2 run on Al Miller’s three-pointplay as time expired. Miller scored on a layup and sank a free throw afterbeing fouled by Rice.
