DJ Vasiljevic scores 30 to lead Miami past Newberry College 106-79 in exhibition matchup

Last week, University of Miami coach Jim Larrañaga revealed that sophomore guard Dejan “DJ” Vasiljevic had scored 159 points in a three-minute shooting drill.

Vasiljevic showed that the drill was no fluke in Miami’s exhibition matchup against Newberry College, tallying a game-high 30 points to lead the Hurricanes to a 106-79 win over the Wolves Wednesday night at the Watsco Center.

The sharpshooter scored 19 of his points in the game’s first four-and-a-half minutes, shooting a perfect 7-7 from the field while hitting five three-pointers. UM sophomore guard Bruce Brown added 19 points and eight assists.

“It was the game we needed,” Vasiljevic said. “I was just happy to see them go through the net.”

UM scored the game’s first 15 points and never looked back from there, stretching the lead to as many as 32 points in the second half.

Despite the blowout, Miami gave up 30 turnovers — one of its biggest areas of concern on the night. Newberry College’s full-court press forced UM into a handful of ill-advised passes.

“It’s a new team with a lot of new players, such as myself,” said freshman Lonnie Walker, who scored eight points. “We just gotta understand that we can’t really rush the ball.”

The Canes are ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 preseason poll that came out Wednesday afternoon — the highest AP preseason ranking in program history.

Miami will open the regular season at home against Gardner-Webb University at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Watsco Center.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 11:02 PM with the headline "DJ Vasiljevic scores 30 to lead Miami past Newberry College 106-79 in exhibition matchup."