No. 25 MBB Upsets No.1 Duke, 90-63

January 23, 2012

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – With a steady din coming from the sea of orange behind the visitors’ basket, No. 1-ranked Duke had a tough time making a shot.

The Blue Devils went more than 8 minutes without a field goal in the first half Wednesday night, and a sellout became a blowout for No. 25 Miami, which delighted a boisterous crowd with a 90-63 victory.

The defeat was the third-worst ever for a No. 1 team, and Duke’s worst in nearly five years.

Durand Scott scored a season-high 25 points for the Hurricanes, and Kenny Kadji added a season-high 22. Shane Larkin had 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Durham, N.C. native Julian Gamble had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Miami (14-3, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat a No. 1 team for the first time, taking control with a stunning 25-1 run midway through the opening half. The Blue Devils missed 13 consecutive shots despite numerous good looks, while four Hurricanes hit 3-pointers during the run that transformed a 14-13 deficit into a 38-15 lead.

Duke (16-2, 3-2) fell to 0-2 when playing on an opponent’s court. The Blue Devils’ other loss came at North Carolina State, a defeat cost them the No. 1 ranking.

They regained the top spot this week but seemed rattled by the capacity crowd, only the 10th in 10 years at Miami’s on-campus arena. Students began lining up for seats outside the arena almost 24 hours before tipoff, a rarity for the attendance-challenged Hurricanes.

But South Florida loves a winner, and the Hurricanes are alone atop the league standings. They won their sixth consecutive game and beat Duke for the second straight time – but only the fourth time in the 19-game series.

Miami had been 0-6 against No. 1 teams. Coach Jim Larranaga also beat a No. 1 team for the first time.

Seth Curry, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook went a combined 1 for 29 for the Blue Devils, who shot a season-low 30 percent. Rasheed Sulaimon led them with 16 points.

Duke went 4 for 23 from 3-point range, while Miami went 9 for 19 and shot 57 percent overall.

Miami senior center Reggie Johnson came off the bench in his first action since being sidelined with a broken left thumb Dec. 18. He had two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes.

Kadji made two 3s during the Hurricanes’ first-half spurt, then capped it with a three-point play. Duke shot 22 percent in the first half, including two for 11 on 3-pointers, and trailed 42-19 at halftime.

There was no letup by the Hurricanes to start the second half. They scored the first seven points to lead 49-19.

A Duke mistake early in the second half had coach Mike Krzyzewski red-faced and on the court, screaming at his team. But he couldn’t inspire a turnaround.

”Over-rated,” the fans chanted with 3 minutes left. When the game ended, they poured onto the court and mobbed their team.

Miami, ranked this week for the first time in three years, improved to 8-0 at home.

Season tickets, mini-plans and non-coference single-game tickets are on sale now, and can be purchase at CanesTix.com or by calling the BankUnited Center Ticket Office at 305.284.2263. The ticket office is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Game Notes

The attendance for tonight’s game was 7,972, which is the highest ever for a UM basketball game at the BankUnited Center.

Miami is on a five-game home ACC winning streak, dating back to last season. The Canes have defeated Wake Forest, Florida State, Boston College, Maryland and Duke at the BankUnited Center in that span. Miami’s last home ACC loss was Feb. 15, 2012, when North Carolina defeated the Canes 73-64.

Miami moves to 4-15 in the all-time series against Duke, having won the last two contests. The Canes are 3-6 against the Blue Devils at home, 0-2 at neutral sites and 1-7 on the road.

The only No. 1 teams to lose by more than Duke’s 27 points against the Hurricanes are St. John’s (1951 vs. Kentucky, 41 points) and Houston (1968 vs. UCLA, 32 points).

Miami is the first team to beat a No. 1 team by 20+ points in the 21st century.

This is Coach Larranaga’s first win over a No. 1 team and the first time in UM’s history that the Canes have defeated a first-ranked opponent. Miami improves to 1-6 against No. 1 teams.

Duke shot only 29.7 percent from the field. The Canes have held 30 opponents to less than 41 percent from the field under Coach Larranaga, including 13 of 17 this season.

Miami shot 56.9 percent from the field, and has shot better than 45 percent from the field in its seven of its eight home games this season.

The Canes went on a 26-5 run in the last 9:42 of the first half, building a 25-point lead with less than a minute remaining. The Canes led 42-19 at the half, which is the largest margin since Dec. 18, 2012, when the Hurricanes led UCF by 16 at halftime. 

Miami built its lead to 30 points with 18:25 remaining in the game, scoring the first five points of the second half. The Canes led by over 30 points numerous times, getting it up to 34 with 1:40 remaining. This was the Canes’ largest lead of the 2012-13 season, beating the previous high of 31 against Charlotte on Dec. 14, 2012.

Shane Larkin finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Durand Scott scored 25 points, besting his previous season high of 20, which he scored on Dec. 22, 2012 at Hawai’i.

Kenny Kadji, who finished the game with 22 points, has had double digit scoring in 14 of the 17 games this season, including the last eight games. 

The last time two Canes scored 20 points was against NC State on Jan. 23, 2011.

Julian Gamble made the Canes’ first basket of the night, a dunk with 19:29 remaining in the first half. He finished with five points and 10 rebounds.

He also tied his career high with four blocks, previously set on Jan. 13, 2013 at Maryland.

Reggie Johnson played in his first game since Dec. 18, 2012. Johnson finished the game with two points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of playing time.