McGusty, Miller lead Miami Hurricanes men to 86-65 exhibition win over Flagler
University of Miami basketball fans got their first look at the 2019-20 men’s team during the Hurricanes’ 86-65 exhibition win over Flagler College Wednesday night. Here is what they learned:
Rodney Miller, the 7-foot center who lost 45 pounds as a redshirt last season, is the most-improved player on the team. The slimmed-down junior moved well across the court, showed a nice shooting touch around the basket and finished with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 19 minutes.
“It was tough [sitting last season], but I learned a lot about the game of basketball,” Miller said. “It was an amazing feeling to get out there. Gave me chills. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about, being a starter at UM. I enjoyed every second of it.”
Oklahoma transfer Kam McGusty showed he is an impact player, leading the Canes with 20 points. The athletic 6-5 guard started alongside Miller, Chris Lykes, Sam Waardenburg and DJ Vasiljevic.
“I feel blessed to be back on the court again,” McGusty said. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel after sitting last year.”
Lykes was nursing a left knee contusion and played just 12 minutes. He scored four points. Coach Jim Larranaga said it was not a serious injury, and he expects Lykes to play in Tuesday’s season opener at home against fifth-ranked Louisville.
Freshmen Isaiah Wong, Harlond Beverly and Anthony Walker looked ready to contribute right away. Wong scored 12, Beverly had 10 points with seven rebounds, and Walker added six points. Vasiljevic had 12.
“The freshmen showed some glimpses of doing good things, but we need to them to learn how hard you have to play all the time,” Larranaga said. “The effort was good first half, but our defense was not good the second half.”
The Canes still have plenty of work to do before the Louisville game. They went cold in the second half, Flagler went on a 21-5 run and cut Miami’s lead from 22 points to 10 before the Hurricanes went on a 26-2 run to put the game out of reach.
“We have to get better defending the three-point line,” Larranaga said. “They made six each half. At our level that would lose a lot of games.”
Chris Metzger, a St. Thomas Aquinas graduate and Plantation native, had eight points and four rebounds for Flagler.
▪ The UM women opened their season Tuesday night with a 90-46 win over Nova Southeastern. The Canes, who finished last season 25-9 (12-4 ACC), are ranked No. 18 in the preseason AP Top 25. Beatrice Mompremier, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, had a double-double in 15 minutes against Nova — 16 points, 11 rebounds. Freshman Brianna Jackson had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 9:33 PM.