No. 15/13 @CanesHoops Rolls Past Duke, 80-69

No. 24/20 Duke6980No. 15/14 Miami

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CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Senior Angel Rodriguez hit three 3-pointers and added a career-high 11 assists to help No. 15 Miami beat No. 24 Duke 80-69 Monday night, the Blue Devils’ fourth loss in five games.

Rodriguez scored 13 points for the Hurricanes, who led for the final 24 minutes. Sheldon McClellan scored 21 points and benefited from Rodriguez’s most spectacular assist late in the game.

Miami (16-3, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat a ranked team for the third time this season, and won by double digits for the 15th time.

Brandon Ingram led Duke with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Grayson Allen added 17 points but shot just 6 for 17.

Rodriguez came into the game 4 for 30 from 3-point range in league games but went 3 for 5 from beyond the arc in the first half to help Miami take the lead for good.

His best play earned a late assist. Duke (15-6, 4-4) was mounting a rally when Rodriguez dribbled quickly through the defense in transition and tossed an alley-oop pass on the run to McClellan for a dunk and a 64-55 lead.

Rodriguez spread his arms as he ran up court, the Hurricanes flying high. They finished with 24 assists to eight for Duke and shot 51 percent.

Tonye Jekiri, Miami’s 7-foot center, contributed assists from the perimeter on consecutive possessions to keep a cushion down the stretch. McClellan scored six points in the final 2 minutes.

Duke came into the game ranked fifth in the nation in scoring at 85.7 points but continued a recent offensive slump. They shot only 42 percent and went 6 for 20 from 3-point range.

The Blue Devils missed nine consecutive shots, including five in one possession, during an 8-1 Hurricanes run that put them ahead 45-35.

The Hurricanes’ man-to-man defense didn’t let Duke get to the free throw line much, either. The Blue Devils average nearly 26 free throws a game but went just 13 for 17.

Ja’Quan Newton scored 15 points to help Miami’s bench outscore Duke’s 21-7. Davon Reed added 14 points, and Jekiri had 10 rebounds, six offensive.

TIP-INS

Duke: The Blue Devils gave up 30 points in the paint in the second half.

Miami: The Hurricanes were 2-15 against Duke before hiring coach Jim Larranaga. They have won four of six games in the series since he became coach.

UP NEXT

Duke: is at Georgia Tech on Feb. 2.

Miami: is at North Carolina State on Saturday.

NOTES

-Miami beat Duke for the fourth time in the teams’ last six meetings.
-Miami improved to 3-1 against AP Top 25 teams this season, matching the win total it had against ranked opponents in the entire 2014-15 season.
-It was the eighth time in Miami’s 11 home games this season that the Hurricanes trailed for fewer than 5 minutes. Out of 440 minutes played at home this season, Miami has trailed for only 76 minutes, 41 seconds, or 17 percent of the time.
-Miami forced Duke into nine consecutive missed shots during one stretch of the second half, five of those coming in 29 seconds on one possession.
-Miami improved to 9-1 when having at least four players reach double-figures in scoring.
-Miami improved to 35-3 under coach Jim Larrañaga when scoring at least 72 points at home, and 61-5 overall in that span when scoring at least 72.
-Miami improved to 28-1 under coach Jim Larrañaga when scoring at least 80 points.
-Miami had assists on 24 of its 30 field goals.

-Angel Rodriguez matched a season-high for 3-pointers made with three, getting them all in the game’s first 16 minutes.
-Angel Rodriguez has now reached double-figures in scoring in each of his last five games against AP Top 25 ranked opponents.
-Angel Rodriguez had a career-high 11 assists. His previous high was 10, set twice when he was at Kansas State in 2012-13. His previous Miami high was nine, set Nov. 21, 2014 against Akron.
-Angel Rodriguez had three more assists by himself than Duke did as a team (eight).
-Sheldon McClellan scored a team-high 21 points. When he scores 19 or more, Miami is a perfect 14-0.
-Sheldon McClellan made at least 50 percent of his shots for the 29th time in his Miami career. The Hurricanes are 26-3 in those games.
-With his 12th point Monday, Sheldon McClellan became the first Hurricane to reach the 300-point mark this season.
-Tonye Jekiri reached double-figures in rebounds for the 13th time in 19 games this season, and for the 37th time in his Miami career. The Hurricanes are now 29-8 when he grabs at least 10 rebounds.
-Tonye Jekiri had a season-best three assists, two of those coming in a 41-second span of consecutive possessions late in the second half as Miami maintained its lead.

Team Notes

– Under head coach Jim Larrañaga, Miami is 4-2 against Duke, 2-1 at home and 2-1 on the road.
– The Hurricanes are just the fourth team this season to score 80-or-more points against Duke.
– Miami tied a season-high with seven blocked shots against Duke.
– Miami is 6-17 in the all-time series against Duke, which dates back to the 1962-63 season. The Canes are 4-7 at home against the Blue Devils, 2-8 on the road and 0-2 at neutral sites.
– Since Coach L’s arrival at Miami in 2011-12 Miami is one of two teams in the country to beat Duke four-or-more times (Notre Dame four times).
– Miami held a 35-31 lead at the half. The Hurricanes improved to 14-1 when leading at halftime this season.
– Since Coach L’s arrival at Miami in 2011-12 Miami (4) and Notre Dame (4) are the only ACC schools with three-or-more wins over Duke and one of seven ACC schools with multiple wins over the Blue Devils.
– Since Coach L’s arrival at Miami in 2011-12 Miami (4-2) and Notre Dame (4-1) are the only ACC schools with a winning record over Duke after playing multiple games.
– Head coach Jim Larrañaga has a 577-386 overall record in his 32nd season as a head coach. He is 107-52 in his fifth season at the University of Miami, with a 46-31 mark in ACC play.
– Since the arrival of Jim Larrañaga at Miami, the Hurricanes have earned four of UM’s six all-time wins against the Blue Devils.
– Miami has posted an 8-5 combined record against Duke (4-2) and North Carolina (4-3). In the four years prior to Coach L, the Canes were 1-12 against Duke (1-6) and North Carolina (0-6). 

Individual Notes
– Redshirt senior guard Sheldon McClellan scored a game-high 21 points. McClellan has now scored 20-or-more points in five games this season.
– Angel Rodriguez dished out a career-high 11 assists.  
– Rodriguez knocked down four shots from long range, his ninth game with multiple 3-pointers made.
– Rodriguez has scored in double digits in 13 games, scoring 13 points against Duke.
– Ja’Quan Newton tallied 15 points and has scored double-digit points in 16 games after only scoring 10+ in four games as a rookie.
– With five handouts against Duke, Newton has at least two assists in 14 games.
– Davon Reed scored 14 points. He has now reached double figures in four of the last six games.
– Reed has a steal in six-straight games and seven of the last eight outings.
– Reed pulled down four rebounds and has grabbed at least three rebounds in every game but two – vs. Charleston and at Clemson.
– Kamari Murphy blocked two Blue Devil shots and has at least one block in 11 of the last 14 games.
– Murphy has grabbed at least five rebounds in 13 of the past 14 outings, after pulling down five against Duke.
– Tonye Jekiri grabbed a team-high 10 boards, has pulled down at least 10 rebounds in 13 games, including seven games with 12-or-more. He has 10+ rebounds in five of the last six outings.
– Jekiri swatted two shots and has at least one block in four-straight games.
– With six points, James Palmer has scored 6+ points in back-to-back games (7 vs. Wake Forest) after last tallying six at La Salle on Dec. 22.

Jim Larrañaga – Miami Head Basketball Coach
Postgame Press Conference – Duke (Jan. 25, 2016)

Opening Statement…
“This has been quite a 72 hours, playing Wake Forest on Saturday. All we could do was walk through. We could go through the mental part of preparing for Duke, but there was no way we could do the physical [part] because of how much energy we expelled on Saturday. The guys did a great job. They really understood the gameplan, they understood that Duke had changed their defensive strategies – we knew they could play man [defense], we knew they could play a 2-3 zone, a 1-3-1, a 3-2, combinations, press us, three-quarter court. In a very short period of time, we were able to communicate to the guys and they absorbed it, interpreted it and then executed it tonight. I though our defense was terrific from start to finish. We didn’t rebound quite as well as I expected, but our defense was great.

“What was the whole key to the game offensively was that we had 24 assists and seven turnovers. That was fantastic. Angel [Rodriguez] had 11 assists himself and Ja’Quan [Newton] had five. Those two point guards playing a lot together, getting everybody involved, leads to a team victory. I told the team before the game that this is not about the individual matchup. You all have individual matchups that are very, very challenging, but this is about the team. This is not about the name on the back of the jersey; it’s about the name on the front of the jersey. This is Miami versus Duke. I thought our guys really played as a team – high energy, lots of enthusiasm. The crowd was great. I want to thank our students who overslept on Saturday and missed the 12 o’clock start, but were here in large, large numbers. I’m inviting them back for our next home game, because they make a huge different in the atmosphere of the arena. They really help us.”

On what kind of difference senior Angel Rodriguez can make for the Hurricanes…
“Here’s happened in my mind: when we opened up conference play, we played against teams that are a little more conservative. Virginia, Clemson, with those teams, the game is a little slower. It’s not as fast. Today and Saturday, when you play Wake Forest or Duke, it gets up and down. Angel and our entire team is much better we’re able to get into the open court and make plays. It’s not ‘run an offense,’ it’s play together, find the open man and score – whether you’re using a ball screen to beat your man and find an open man or against their zone. What we did so well midway through the first half was get it into the middle of the zone, then kick it out or shoot it. I’m very, very proud of the guys and I thought Angel was sensational tonight.”

On what it means to beat Duke…
“I know you guys don’t believe this, but I’m telling you – to me, in the ACC, you have 15 very good teams you have to battle. You have to battle…you have to play 18 games and every game counts as one. You beat Duke and that counts as one. You beat Wake Forest and that counts as one. We lose to Virginia and that counts as one. At the end of the year, when all of the regular season is over, then you can determine how good you were. You win one game and lose to somebody else, that’s a 1-1. We like when we win.”

Angel Rodriguez

On the team’s mindset when Duke cut Miami’s lead to 65-60…
“I think it comes [down] to maturity and trusting each other. At one of the timeouts, Coach L made sure to tell us to stay together. At the same time, we knew they were going to go man [defense] at some point. It was just a matter of time. Exactly when they went man at the end of the game, we were pretty comfortable with that and we executed to basically perfection, if I could say that.”

On the backdoor lobs when Duke played 2-3 defense…
“No. I’m just playing the game. We knew in the 2-3 zone, the lob would be available because the guards come up and they’re concerned about the three-point shooter. It’s always, against man-to-man, we found a way to connect with each other.”

On how much fun he was having on the court playing with his teammates…
“It felt great. Coach L is always preaching about having fun, playing the game and not minding anything – if you turn it over, just get back and move on. [I give] a lot of credit to the crowd. I though they were great. As we always say, every time they show up, it gives us that extra boost. As Coach L said, I also want to invite them or every single game that we have left. It really helps us.”

On playing well against Duke for the second straight year…
“I think it’s a coincidence. I like playing the powerhouses, that’s what we come to the ACC for. But at the end of the day, our goal is bigger than just beating Duke. Our goal is to win every single game we can and to have a chance to put ourselves in a position to win an ACC title.”

Sheldon McClellan

On having another big second half…
“I thought I wasn’t as aggressive in the first half as I was in the second half…I just figure out what the [defense] is doing in the first half and then attack second half. Eventually I knew they would come out of the zone and go to man-to-man, which we are great playing against. It was about being more aggressive in the second half.”

On the flow of the game, and having the lead for the final 25 minutes of the game…
“We played with a lot of energy, and it starts on the defensive end. We just play as a team. We were talking on the court, we played with a lot of energy like I said, and it led to some fast-break dunks and fast-break buckets. That got us in a rhythm as always…it was a great feeling to be out there with our team having fun like that.”

Mike Krzyzewski – Duke Head Basketball Coach
Postgame Press Conference – Miami (Jan. 25, 2016)

Opening Statement…
“We lost to a really good basketball team tonight. They’re old, experienced, obviously extremely well-coached and deep. They’re one of the better teams. I was really proud of our guys. Our guys fought like crazy. They competed, and put themselves in a position…we haven’t played in a game like that all year, [a game] that physical. It was really physical. For our guys hung in there really well, and played through [being] tired.

“We can’t practice that, because we don’t have the guys, but that was the most physical game we’ve been involved in, by far. They played their butts off. They played really well. [Angel] Rodriguez was a great leader for them – distributing the ball, hitting big shots. They’re better than we are. They’re one of the best teams. They’re one of the best teams. I thought we put ourselves in a position where we gave ourselves a chance to win during this game. I’m proud of our guys for being able to do that.”

On the mindset dealing with a young team, balancing good effort and results…
“It’s because we’re always truthful with them. They know. They know we’ve been undermanned for about six weeks, and they’re growing up as a result of it. We’ve gotten better. We’ve competed in every darn game since Amile [Jefferson] has been gone, and had a chance in every game. That’s all I’m looking for. Hopefully the wins will be there. But the winning effort has been there the entire time, the preparation, the attitude – it’s terrific. Brandon [Ingram] has got to keep going. As he’s going, he should have a game where he has 12 or 15 free throws because of all the stuff he’s doing. He has to learn the game better, I guess, because he’s playing so damn hard and not necessarily getting rewarded for some of his strong efforts.”

On the team shooting 41 percent and what he thought of the team’s shot selection…
“I think [Miami] is pretty good. I have no fault with our shots. This is not so much a technique game. This is a different game, man. I don’t know how you all see it, but to me, that was by far the most physical game we’ve been a part of this season.”

On his perception of the Miami Hurricanes basketball team…
“They’re terrific. Jim [Larranaga] is one of the best coaches in the country. It’s not like this is the first year. They’re really good. They’re usually old, with the transfers, that they’ve been able to get. Smart. They’ve done it smart. They’re as respected as anybody in the league, and throughout the country, I think, because they’re that good. People respect talent and certainly they respect Jim. He knows what to do with the talent.”