Four 'Canes in Double Figures in 94-59 Rout of Pepperdine
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Malcolm Grant scored 22 points to lead Miami to a 94-59 victory over Pepperdine on Thursday night. Miami (11-3) never trailed as Grant hit three early 3-pointers to help the Hurricanes build a 27-13 lead with 8:43 remaining in the first half. The Waves (5-11) reduced the margin with a 10-2 run in the next 4:05. Keion Bell’s two free throws capped the spurt and cut Miami’s lead to 29-23 with 4:38 left. Miami responded with 12 points behind 3-pointers from Durand Scott and Adrian Thomas. Thomas’ 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the half increased the Hurricanes’ lead to 43-23. Grant was one of four Hurricanes who scored in double figures. Scott finished with 15 points and Reggie Johnson scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and his third over the last four games. Erik Swoope scored 11 of his career-high 13 points in the second half. Mychel Thompson led the Waves with 15 points. Tonight’s Starters On the Double Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Despite saying he felt rusty, Grant notched his fifth 20-point performance of the season — and second over the last three games — with a game-high 22 points (6-10 FGs, 4-7 3FGs, 6-6 FTs) and a game-high eight assists, with just two turnovers. Scott added 15 points (5-9 FGS, 1-3 3FGs, 4-4 FTs) with five boards, two assists and a steal. Despite the limited — to no — practice time the Hurricanes had following their last game (a 69-61 win over Akron one week ago in Las Vegas), Miami turned the ball over a season-low eight times, while forcing 13 Pepperdine turnovers and scoring 16 points off of them. |
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| Points | 94 | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
| FG Made-Attempted | 28-52 | 17-55 | |||||||||||||||||
| FG Percentage | 53.8 | 30.9 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3P Made-Attempted | 12-25 | 5-17 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3P Percentage | 48.0 | 29.4 | |||||||||||||||||
| FT Made-Attempted | 26-35 | 20-27 | |||||||||||||||||
| FT Percentage | 74.3 | 74.1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 37 | 32 | |||||||||||||||||
| Assists | 16 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
| Turnovers | 8 | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
UM
PU| Miami | Stat Leaders | Pepperdine | ||
| M. Grant | 22 | Points | 15 | M. Thompson |
| R. Johnson | 15 | Rebounds | 6 | G. Clardy |
| M. Grant | 8 | Assists | 2 | Thompson/Willis |
| E. Swoope | 2 | Steals | 1 | 3 Players |
| 3 Players | 1 | Blocks | 1 | Suttle/Harold |
From the Line
Malcolm Grant continues his incredible free throw shooting and finished 6-of-6 from the line today. He has hit 55 of his last 58 free throws (.948) since the Dec. 4 win over West Virginia. For the season he is hitting 90.5 percent (67-74) from the charity stripe. Jack McClinton registered UM’s top free throw percentage in season with a 91.9 percent conversion rate in 2007-08 (114-124).
Taking Over
Miami’s 40-point lead over Pepperdine with 5:24 remaining in the game marked the Hurricanes largest lead of the season, besting its previous high of 32 versus Ole Miss on Nov. 30.
Thomas for Three
Going 2-of-3 from long range, Adrian Thomas extended his 3-point streak to nine-straight games. He now has a trey in 56 of his last 62 games, while his 145 career threes rank ninth most in Miami program history and trail Johnny Hemsley (1996-2000) in eighth place by 19 treys.
As a team, the Hurricanes shot 48.0 percent (12-25) from beyond the arc, while their 12 treys were just one shy of their season best. Malcolm Grant added a 4-for-7 performance for his sixth game of the season and 14th of his career with three-plus threes. Garrius Adams and Rion Brown eached added a pair of three-pointers in Miami’s fourth-straight win and ninth in its last 10 games.
Swooshes for Swoope
In his third-straight start, true freshman Erik Swoope knocked down a career-high 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and a career-high 5-of-7 from the line in a career-high 23 minutes. Since entering the starting lineup, the powerful, yet undersized forward has seen his minutes increase from 3.8 to 17.0 minutes per game — and he has yet to miss a field goal, going 7-of-7 since cracking the lineup.
Big D
The Hurricanes defense limited the Waves to just 59 points — their second lowest total of the season, while keeping their leading scorer Keion Bell to 12 points. He entered the game 17th in the nation averaging 21.4 points an outing. In addition, Pepperdine shot a season-low 30.9 percent from the field.
Bring It
The Hurricanes hit the road to open ACC competition at top-ranked and defending national champion Duke on Sun., Jan. 2, at 7:45 p.m. on Fox Sports. Miami has led the Blue Devils at the half in each of their last four contests, and took them down to the wire in the last meeting in the 2010 ACC Tournament semifinals, before falling 77-74.
