Second Half Surge Powers Miami Over Southern Miss, 88-64
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s basketball used a strong second half to defeat Southern Miss, 88-64, Saturday inside the Watsco Center.
Southern Miss (5-4) opened the game on an 8-0 run before the Hurricanes stormed back to tie the game at 13-13 and took the lead on a Malik Reneau and-one with 12:37 remaining. The Golden Eagles led by as many as five, 24-19, in the half before Miami (8-2) closed out the half with a pair of Shelton Henderson free throws to tie the game at 34-34.
With Southern Miss leading 40-38 early in the second half, the Hurricanes went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead, highlighted by a corner three from Timo Malovec. Miami led 47-44 prior to the Canes embarking on a 17-2 run over the next four and half minutes to extend the lead to 64-46.
The Hurricanes kept their foot on the gas and led by as many 27 with 1:44 left.
In the final stanza, Miami shot 56.8-percent on 21-of-37 from the floor. Malovec scored 13 of his 16 points in the second hitting three 3-pointers while Reneau led the team in points with 21.
Tre Donaldson registered his second double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 11 assists. Ernest Udeh Jr. cleaned up the glass with a team-high 10 rebounds and recorded nine points.
Miami returns to the hardwood Saturday for a noon tip against ULM inside the Watsco Center.
Tickets are available for the 2025-26 men’s basketball season and can be purchased online at www.miamihurricanes.com/tickets.
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Jai Lucas
Opening statement…
“It was gonna be a tricky one regardless. You know, he (USM head coach Jay Ladner) does a really good job of mixing things up, throwing different defenses. His roster is built through his background and who he is. He’s done a really good job of building his team to fit his personality, fit his identity. I thought at the start of the game, they just played a lot harder than we did. And this is all part of growing up, part of the process, first noon game, first Saturday game. So you kind of know and expect what’s coming. I wanted to see where we would be, and we weren’t there. We weren’t to the level. I thought that was the biggest difference between the first half and the second half, is that our intensity, our energy, our effort, was there in the second half, and it was not there at all in the first half. I didn’t think it was anything schematic. I didn’t think it was anything they were doing, anything we weren’t doing differently in the game. They were playing harder than us. So I challenged the guys at halftime, and they responded, which is always a good sign, so I was proud of that. Then we just got to try to get as healthy as we can these next couple of weeks and get ready for conference play.”
On how frustrating the team not playing as hard the first half was…
“You know it’s disappointing because it’s never been the case for us. You can fall in a trap in an early Saturday game, and then you can also fall in a trap when guys know they have to play heavy minutes. They feel like they can pace themselves and coast and try to get through the game, which is never the right answer. So I felt that it wasn’t as disappointing as it was expected for me. I kind of could see it from shootaround, and could see it last couple days in practice. Since the Ole Miss game, we barely can practice because we got six guys. You got guys in and out of practice, different bumps, different bruises. So all of it is connected, and so my job as the coach is to figure out the best way these next couple of weeks to stay sharp, to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, and to make sure that we can practice and continue to get better, even though we might have seven guys.”
On the difference in the second half…
“I think the difference was they woke up, for lack of a better word. They got going. They played to who we are. They played our identity, played to our standard. They’re kids, as much as we want to be robots, and much as you want to be as consistent as possible, human nature always kicks in. That was the thing I was worried about with this early game, was human nature, and so just challenging them and then responding to the challenge at halftime. It’s the one thing I want to take out of this game.”
Shelton Henderson, Forward, Freshman
On the coach’s message at halftime…
“I think we just weren’t playing hard enough. They were playing with a chip on our shoulder coming to this game, but we didn’t have any sense of urgency that first half. That was the main message, is to pick up our urgency and play harder. We weren’t really worried about the offensive side. We just worried about defensive rebounds.”
On the freshman class stepping up…
“Like anybody can step up on this team. We have a lot of pieces, especially now with seven guys available, we’re kind of banged up, so everyone has to step up, play a different role. I think I, Timo, all the guys, did just that today.”
Timo Malovec, Forward, Freshman
On adjusting to extended minutes…
“You know, it takes time. I’m happy for those minutes. Obviously, as Shell said, we kind of banged up now. We got some injuries, but had to step up. I hope I’m doing a good job, and we’ll just have to wait for the guy, the guys, to get back and we keep taking good days and getting going.”
On his role as a shooter and wearing number 88…
“I mean shooting my role in the team. So that’s what I’m going to do, try to do. That’s what’s asked of me. And the number, I was little, I got the number 88 there’s never not really a story. I just got it as my first number, and kept it.”
