Grant Drains 21 points in Canes' 60-50 Win

Box Score – Miami vs. FGCU | Season Stats

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Malcolm Grant scored 21 points to lead Miami past Florida Gulf Coast 60-50 on Tuesday night.

Grant secured the win, converting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:21, as the Hurricanes (4-0) held off a comeback attempt from the Eagles (2-3).

Sherwood Brown’s third 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining got Florida Gulf Coast within seven at 55-48.

After Grant converted two free throws with 1:21 left, Brown hit a driving jumper with 55 seconds remaining to cut the Miami lead to seven, 57-50.

Brown scored 19 points to lead Florida Gulf Coast.

The Eagles rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit with a 9-0 run in the first 4:16 of the second half. Sherwood Brown’s 3-pointer with 15:44 left capped the run and put Florida Gulf Coast within nine, 42-33.

Following the 3, neither team scored until Miami finally got on the board on Erik Swoope’s slam dunk with 13:06 remaining.

Miami broke open a close first half with a 23-6 run in the final 6 minutes. Grant keyed the spurt with 10 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Eagles entered the game shooting 43 percent from 3-point range but shot only 3-of-15 against Miami. Brown converted the three Florida Gulf Coast 3-pointers, all in the second half.

Shane Larkin the dribbled length of the court and hit a driving layup at the buzzer that gave the Hurricanes a 42-24 lead at halftime.

Eddie Murray scored consecutive baskets as the Eagles scored six unanswered points early in the first half and took a 10-6 lead with 13:53 remaining.

Dante Holmes’ lay-up kept Florida Gulf Coast within one at 19-18 with 6:32 remaining before Hurricanes went on their late first half surge.

Game Notes
– Miami scored more first half points than they have all season with 42, while holding their opponent to a season-low 24 first half points. It was also the Canes largest halftime lead thus far at 18.
– Miami started of the second half with a 6:55 minute long scoring drought going 0-10 until Erik Swoope had a monster jam off a dish from Larkin with 13:05 remaining. During that span FGCU only managed a 9-0 run.
Miami followed it up with another drought of just over four minutes before Scott hit 1-of-2 free throws with 9:04 remaining.
– Miami shot well from the stripe hitting 17-23 with Grant leading the way, dropping seven of his 10 attempts. FGCU went 7-11 with Miami’s 10 extra free throws being the deciding factor in the final score.
– Nearly half of Miami’s shot attempts (27-of-56) on the night came from beyond the three-point line.
– Miami only committed seven turnovers in tonight’s game bringing their season total to 39 and averaging less than 10 per game this season. With 12 team assists, Miami’s turnover-to-assist ratio stands at 1.23 on the year.
– The Canes are 3-0 all-time against FGCU.
– Larranaga has kept the same starting lineup all four games this season.
– Kadji has won all four opening tips this season.
– Miami is now one win away from the century mark at the BUC with a 99-44 record.
– The Canes have now hit a three in 315-straight games.
– Miami has won 26-consecutive non-conference games at the BankUnited Center.
– Malcolm Grant has now hit a three-pointer in 27-straight games, the school’s fourth-longest streak all-time and currently sits at No. 9 on Miami’s career 3-point leaders list with 168 passing Johnny Hemsley (96-00) and trailing James Dews (06-10) and Kevin Presto (85-89) who are tied at 170.
– Durand Scott jumped to 11th all-time on the Canes career assist list, surpassing Jack McClinton, with his five-assist performance tonight totaling 240 in his career.
– Freshman guard Shane Larkin’s first field goal was once again a three-point play knocking down a jumper from beyond the arc. In his first appearance he knocked down a three-pointer seconds after stepping on to the court and in his second game against UNF he had a driving layup followed by the and-one free throw.