Brown's Six 3-Pointers Lead Miami over Maryland

CORAL GABLES, FLA. (AP) – Freshman Rion Brown scored 19 points to lead Miami to a 80-66 victory over Maryland on Wednesday night.

Brown and Malcolm Grant hit consecutive 3-pointers late in the second half as the Hurricanes regained a double-digit lead they enjoyed for most of the first half and the opening minutes of the second. Brown was 6 of 7 from 3-point range.

Grant, who finished with 16 points, made a 3-pointer to put Miami(18-12, 6-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) up 69-56 with 6:06 remaining.

The Hurricanes later scored six unanswered points during a 1:22 span to seal it. Durand Scott‘s basket gave Miami a 75-58 lead with 4:06 to play.

Scott scored 15 points and Reggie Johnson finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds for Miami.

The Terrapins (18-12, 7-8) rallied from a 47-30 deficit early in the second half with a 15-3 spurt. Adrian Bowie and Terrell Stoglin each hit 3s during the run.

Stoglin led Maryland with 20 points.

Maryland brought it within five, 55-50, on Bowie’s 3-pointer with 11:50 remaining. Bowie and Stoglin each hit 3-pointers during the run.

Grant’s six points and Brown’s four-point play keyed the Hurricanes on a 12-0 run midway through the first half. Grant capped the spurt with three free throws after being fouled on an attempted 3-point try for a 23-12 Miamilead with 10:16 remaining.

Garrius Adams‘ jumper with 2:14 remaining gave the Hurricanes their biggest lead of the half 40-25.

Adrian Thomas, a sixth-year Miami senior, scored 12 points in his final regular-season home game.

With the Win, the Hurricanes are now…

• 18-12 overall
• 6-9 ACC
• 11-4 at the BankUnited Center
• Winners of six of their last nine games
• 11-7 all-time against Maryland
• 5-0 versus Maryland at the BankUnited Center

Tonight’s Starters
Starting for Miami today was Durand Scott, Malcolm Grant, Garrius Adams, Reggie Johnson and Adrian Thomas. This is the first time this season that Coach Haith has used this combination to start a game. Scott and Grant have started all 30 games for UM this season.

Showing the Love
Prior to the start of the game, the University of Miami men’s basketball team recognized graduate student Adrian Thomas for his contributions to the program over the last six seasons. AT made his fourth start of the season, making his 126th appearance in a Hurricanes’ uniform, tied for third-most in UM history with former teammates Dwayne Collins and Anthony King.

Bringing it in
Reggie Johnson proved to be a force inside against the Terps with 10 rebounds in the first half on his way to a career-high 16 boards on the night. He added 12 points to notch his 12th double-double of the season, fourth in ACC play and second straight. He broke a tie with Eric Brown (1988-89) and Tito Horford (1987-88) and now has sole possession of fourth place in single-season double-doubles since the return of the program in 1985-86.

Hot, Hot, Hot
Miami had its best shooting night of the season, converting 52.2 percent of shots from the field (28-51). The ‘Canes hit at least 50 percent from the field in both halves for the first time since the win over McNeese
State on Nov. 23, 2010.

Conversely, Miami mixed their defensive looks throughout the night keeping the Terrapins off-balance, and forced Maryland into its worst shooting performance of the year, limiting the Terps to just 33.9 percent (21-62).

Breathing Room
The Hurricanes 14-point win was their largest margin of victory in an ACC game this year. Miami led for most of the game, going up by as many as 17 points in the second half. The game only had five lead changes and two ties – all occurring in the first half.

Spreading the Wealth
For the fifth time this season, five Hurricanes scored in double figures on Wednesday night – Rion Brown (19), Malcolm Grant (16), Durand Scott (15), Adrian Thomas (12) and Reggie Johnson (12). It’s the first time Miami has done this since the Jan. 26 game against North Carolina.

The Freshman
True freshman Rion Brown had his best night as a ‘Cane putting up career highs in points (19), field goals made (6), three-pointers made (6) and assists (3). All seven of Brown’s shot attempts from the field were triples as he finished 6-of-7 for the night from long range. He is the third player to convert six threes in a single game this season, with Adrian Thomas and Malcolm Grant each doing it twice during the course of the season.

From Downtown
With Adrian Thomas’ three-pointer 5:48 into the first half, the Hurricanes have now made a three-pointer in 295 straight games and in 739 of 742 since the NCAA adopted the three-point shot in 1986.

Thomas, fifth all-time at UM in threes made, went on to convert three triples on the day. He has hit a trey in 24 of the last 25 games and in 74 of his last 82 games, knocking down three-plus three-pointers 14 times this season and 31 times over his six-year career. He has hit a three in 15 straight for the second-longest active streak in the ACC. With 77 threes, he climbs into ninth place in Miami history in single-season threes, passing Darius Rice, who had 76 in 2001-02.

Malcolm Grant extended his three-point streak to an ACC-long 17-straight games. With 142 career threes in just his second season as Hurricane, Grant is10th place all-time in program history in triples made, while his 81 three-pointers this season are fifth best in Miami history.

That’s a Wrap
Miami closed out its regular-season home slate on Wednesday night with a win to improve to 11-4 at the BankUnited Center this in 2010-11. The ‘Canes are now 93-44 (.679) all-time at the BankUnited Center since the building opened in 2003, and 49-14 (.778) over the last four seasons.

U Family
During a timeout in the first half, the Hurricanes honored diver Brittany Viola, who received a 2011 James-Weaver-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award from the ACC. Viola won the platform national championship at the USA Diving Winter National Championships earlier this month in Iowa City, Iowa.