New York-Bound with Victory Vibes

Jan. 19 | 7 p.m. | ACCN
Carrier Dome | Syracuse, N.Y.
Miami (6-6, 2-5 ACC) at Syracuse (7-4, 1-3 ACC)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s basketball team faced its most difficult test of the season Saturday night and passed with flying colors.

Coming off a blowout loss at Boston College, the Hurricanes had just days to regroup before facing their first top-20 foe of the year in No. 16/18 Louisville. Then, soon before tip-off, they learned redshirt senior Kameron McGusty (right hamstring) and freshman guard Earl Timberlake (left arm) would both miss the game, giving them just seven available scholarship players.

Short on bodies, short on rest and facing a tall task, Miami turned in a dazzling performance to knock off the Cardinals, 78-72, in a game it led for over 35 minutes and by as many as 15 points.

“When the guys heard we weren’t going to have Kam and we weren’t going to have Earl, those seven guys absolutely knew, ‘Hey, I’m going to be counted on today, so I need to be ready.’ And they were,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “All seven guys contributed in one fashion or another. It was good we were able to keep Nysier Brooks in the game. It was good that Deng Gak gave us 11 solid minutes, resting Nysier Brooks. It was good bringing Matt Cross off the bench and getting a lift. A lot of times, your starters can do the job, but when they go out of the game, you need someone else to step up and Matt Cross did.”

Indeed all three of those players contributed mightily to Miami’s impressive victory. Brooks, a redshirt senior center, totaled eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Ten of those came in the first half, good for the most by a Hurricane in a frame since November 2018.

Gak, a redshirt junior forward, finished plus-eight in his 11 minutes of action, the third-best mark on the team, while making his lone field goal attempt and blocking a shot.

Cross, after a scoreless performance in his home state of Massachusetts, bounced back in a major way. The forward went 4-of-6 from 3-point range, tied for the fifth-best percentage by a Miami freshman (min. four 3PA) in the ACC era, and hit all four of his free throws.

In addition, senior guard Elijah Olaniyi logged his first double-double as a Hurricane, notching season highs in points (15) and rebounds (10). However, it was sophomore guard Isaiah Wong who stole the show.

The Piscataway, N.J., native poured in a career high 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and a career-best six assists. Twenty-one of his points came after halftime and he committed zero turnovers in 39 minutes of action.

Wong is the fifth player in Larrañaga’s 10-year Miami tenure to score 30-plus in a game, including the first in nearly four years. He is the second ACC player in the last decade with 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers in a game, alongside North Carolina’s Marcus Paige. Those are just a few of his many accomplishments in the victory.

“I think, at Boston College, Isaiah was probably disappointed he didn’t play better,” Larrañaga shared. “I think really good players, like Isaiah is, they try to bounce back and have a really good game the next time out. That’s what he did. He was very focused, he was very aggressive, he was looking for his shot. He made a lot of good decisions, not just in scoring, but as I said, finding Matt Cross when he got double-teamed.”

While all of Miami’s individuals stepped up to earn the upset triumph, it certainly took a collective effort to get the victory.

In fact, there were multiple aspects of the game in which Larrañaga came away enthused with how his team played as a group.

“I was very proud of the way we played defense in the first half,” the two-time ACC Coach of the Year said. “I was very proud of how we were able to kind of survive a Louisville attack. They made a nice run at us and we closed the game very well.”

Larrañaga also continued to see a particular offensive style continue to manifest itself for Miami in its victory. While the Hurricanes did shoot 8-of-20 (40.0 percent) from 3-point range against the Cardinals, they proved their abilities once again when it comes to getting to the rim.

Even though it worked this time, the 37th-year head coach knows there is no guarantee that will be the case going forward and Miami will need to continue to supplement scoring with long-range shots.

“What we’re finding is we’re a driving team and when we play against man-to-man, we can be pretty effective,” Larrañaga said. “When we play against zone, we need to shoot the three better. We’re missing our two best 3-point shooters.”

A concern for the Hurricanes on that front is their next opponent: Syracuse. No program in the country is more synonymous with zone defense than the Orange and, as Larrañaga alluded to, Miami remains without McGusty and senior guard Chris Lykes (left ankle).

As has been the case throughout Jim Boeheim’s 45 legendary seasons at the helm of the Orange, it is important to knock down 3-pointers against Syracuse.

Just as was the case versus Louisville, Miami will need players to rise to the occasion Tuesday night at 7 p.m. when it faces the Orange at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

“Hopefully we’ll have Kam McGusty, which will give us another 3-point threat. That makes a huge difference if we can get three or four 3-point shooters,” Larrañaga said. “Matt Cross, Isaiah Wong and Kam McGusty [are three and] we need just one more guy who can make threes, whether it’s Elijah or Harlond [Beverly] or Earl. Somebody has to step up and make some threes.”

Syracuse heads into the game at 7-4 (1-3 ACC) on the season after dropping three of its past four contests. However, the Orange boast a high-powered offensive attack averaging 79.2 points per game, second-best in the ACC.

As hard as it will be to handle Syracuse’s stingy 2-3 zone, Miami will also need to find a way to slow down a team that plays an offensive style it has not consistently fared well against in 2020-21.

“They’ve got four perimeter players who can all shoot the three and that’s a major concern,” Larrañaga noted. That’s what we’ve struggled with defensively.”

Junior forward Alan Griffin, at 16.7 points per game, paces a group of five Syracuse players averaging double digits in the scoring column. The Orange were picked sixth in the ACC preseason poll after tallying an 18-14 (10-10) record last year.

The Hurricanes own a 9-19 all-time mark against Syracuse, including a 3-9 ledger on the road and a 4-5 mark under Larrañaga. The most recent matchup went to Miami, which registered a 69-65 home triumph on March 7, 2020, to cap the 2019-20 regular season.

Miami’s outing in the Empire State will be televised live on ACC Network HERE, with Dave O’Brien and Cory Alexander on the call. Joe Zagacki and Danny Rabinowitz will have the radio broadcast on 560 The Joe WQAM HERE. Live stats for the contest can be found HERE.

Following its game against the Orange, Miami returns to Coral Gables for its final home game of the month, a Sunday matchup with Notre Dame at the Watsco Center, set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network.

To keep up with the University of Miami men’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesHoops on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

The 2020-21 Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball season is presented by First National Bank.