Canes Surge In Second Half, Beat Boston College

No. 15/14 Miami6753Boston College

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CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. (AP) —  Sheldon McClellan scored 19 points, Ja’Quan Newton had 12 and No. 15 Miami rebounded from consecutive losses with a 67-53 win over Boston College on Wednesday night.

It was the 11th straight victory for the Hurricanes (14-3, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) against Boston College. Tonye Jekiri matched his career high with 17 rebounds, and Angel Rodriguez scored 12 points.

Jerome Robinson led the Eagles (7-11, 0-5) with 20 points and leading scorer Eli Carter had 12 on 4-for-18 shooting.

It was BC’s fifth straight loss. The previous four — all in conference games — were by an average of 22.5 points.

Closing a stretch of three road games in nine days, Miami rode a solid start in the second half by Rodriguez, who scored nine points to help the Hurricanes open a 45-35 lead with 14:15 to play.

BC sliced it to 45-41 on Darryl Hicks’ 3-pointer from the right corner with just more than 14 minutes to play.

Miami, which seemed to be relaxing on the defensive end of the floor on many possessions early in the second half, pushed its lead to 56-49 on Newton’s baseline jumper with 5:45 to go.

The Eagles never trimmed their deficit below five points the rest of the way. They didn’t have a basket in the final 7 minutes.

In the first half, the Hurricanes pounded the ball inside early and took advantage of nine BC turnovers in the opening 11 minutes to build a six-point edge before the Eagles answered with a 10-1 spree.

Miami closed the half by scoring eight of the final 12 points to grab a 29-28 advantage at halftime.

Neither team was crisp offensively in the opening 20 minutes, at times turning the ball over on consecutive possessions.

Postgame Quotes 

Miami Coach Jim Larrañaga

“First of all, I am very happy and I think we are very fortunate to have won this game tonight. We had ample opportunities to play very well to start the game. At halftime, there were 12 turnovers by Boston College and we only ended up with nine points. We should have ended up with maybe 20 points off of those turnovers. 10‐for‐12 because they were basically fast breaks that you know when we can finish at a high level, especially this team, who is pretty good in the open court. When we didn’t do it, I was very concerned at halftime that it was a one‐point game. Angel (Rodriguez) and Sheldon (McClellan) did their job. They led us in the second half. Tonye (Jekiri) did his job and got 17 rebounds. This is probably the largest margin of victory we have had since I’ve been in the ACC. We’re happy to end up with a 14‐point win.” 

Miami 67, Boston College 53

Series Notes

-Miami improved to 22-24 overall in the all-time series against Boston College. The Hurricanes also moved to 10-11 on the road against the Eagles.

-The Hurricanes have now won 11-straight matchups against BC and 14 of the last 16.

-With the win over Boston College, Miami snapped its two-game losing streak.

-Miami improved to 44-31 in ACC games since the arrival of Jim Larrañaga. The Canes are 20-18 on the road and 24-13 at home.

Team Notes

-Miami’s starting lineup of Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan, Davon Reed, Ivan Cruz Uceda and Tonye Jekiri made their seventh appearance of the season. Miami improved to 6-1 on the year with this lineup to open a game.

-Miami held a 29-28 lead at the half. Miami is 12-1 when leading at the half.

-The Hurricanes also held a 43-37 rebounding advantage. The Hurricanes are 11-1 when outrebounding their opponent.

-Miami led for 35:01 during Wednesday night’s game.

Individual Notes

-Sheldon McClellan finished the game with a team-best 19 points, connecting on 7-of-14 shots from the field.  

-Teammates Angel Rodriguez and Ja’Quan Newton also scored in double figures as they each scored 12 points.

-Newton now has scored 10-or-more points in 13 games, while Rodriguez has scored 10-or-more points in 11 games.

-McClellan has scored 10-or-more points in every game but three (vs. Butler, Charlotte, Princeton).

-McClellan logged a team-high 37 minutes. McClellan has played 32-or-more minutes in each of the past five games.

-Tonye Jekiri pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds, which tied a career high. Jekiri has tallied 10-or-more rebounds in 11 games this season.

-With his 17 rebounds against Boston College, Jekiri became just the sixth player to record 17-or-more rebounds in ACC play this season.   

-Jekiri’s 13 defensive rebounds are a season high.

-Jekiri finished with four offensive rebounds. He has recorded four-or-more offensive rebounds in six games this season.

-Jekiri also tallied three blocks. He has three-or-more blocks in four games this season, including three blocks in back-to-back games.

-Reed has hit three-or-more free throws in every game but five (vs. Utah, Florida, Syracuse, Virginia and Clemson).

-McClellan also has a steal in every game but two (vs. Charlotte and Princeton). McClellan finished the game with three steals, which tied a career high in ACC play.

-Rodriguez has knocked down a 3-pointer in every game but five (La Salle, Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson and Boston College).

Canes as a Ranked team

-Miami is 88-38 overall as a ranked team.

-Since the rebirth, Miami is 70-32 overall as a ranked team.

Coach L Notes

-Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 575-386 overall record in his 32nd season as a head coach. He is 105-52 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 44-31 mark in ACC play.

-The Canes are a perfect 9-0 against Boston College under Coach L.

-Miami is 29-11 overall while ranked under Coach L.