Miami Hurricanes, sparked by Charlie Moore’s threes, beat FAMU 86-59 at home Sunday
Thanksgiving break began Saturday at the University of Miami, but the men’s basketball team was busy at work Sunday night, stuffing the basket from distance in an 86-59 win over Florida A&M.
The Hurricanes led the Rattlers from start to finish at the Watsco Center.
Despite having several good perimeter shooters, UM had struggled from three-point range before Sunday night. They made 2-of-10 three pointers against FAU and 6-of-26 against UCF. But the Hurricanes found their rhythm against FAMU with 10 threes.
Transfer point guard Charlie Moore led the way, making five of his seven three-point attempts — four of them in the first half. He finished the night with a team-high 20 points and four assists.
UM coach Jim Larranaga, in an effort to help Moore to find his outside shot, made him a video of his three-point highlights from last season at DePaul. The motivational tactic worked.
“I was very pleased with Charlie Moore, he really quarterbacked the team, scored, passed, got everybody involved,” Larranaga said. “I sent him a video of all his made threes at DePaul and told him, ‘Hey, look for your shots and be confident.’ He told me he really enjoyed watching it, we put it to music, so I’m sure mentally that helped him.”
It did, Moore said.
“It actually did help, seeing myself knocking down shots, doing what I do,” Moore said. “Also, my teammates getting me involved and coaches having confidence in me to keep shooting the ball. I’m looking forward to keep doing what I did tonight to help the team win.”
Guards Kam McGusty and Isaiah Wong, who returned to the Hurricanes after testing the NBA waters, both played well. Wong went 8-of-11 for 19 points with five rebounds. McGusty went 6-of-11 for 14 points. Sam Waardenburg was strong on the boards with eight rebounds.
Larranaga said before the game that he wanted more production from the bench — and he got it. Transfer Jordan Miller, Anthony Walker and freshman Wooga Poplar combined for 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Miami won the rebounding battle 49-33 over the Rattlers and played stifling defense on FAMU guard MJ Randolph, who scored 27 on the road at Kansas State and was one rebound shy of a triple-double in the previous game against LeMoyne-Owen. Randolph was held scoreless in the first half and finished with nine points.
“We were very worried because of how well Florida A&M played on the road at Kansas State where they were within two points late in the second half and MJ Randolph had dominated with 27 points, so our real emphasis was trying to slow him down and I think our guys did a great job,” Larranaga said.
Associate coach Chris Caputo is the team’s defensive coordinator, and Larranaga gave him credit for devising the game plan for shutting down Randolph.
Miami took control of the game early, pulling ahead 23-11 after a 7-0 run. Unlike last season, when the UM bench was so thin the team often played with just six or seven healthy players, 10 Hurricanes got into Sunday’s game in the first 10 minutes.
Moore made a pair of three-pointers and a pair of free throws during a 10-0 UM run to open a 25-point Miami lead — its biggest of the night — with 14:12 to go in the first half.
FAMU went on a 10-0 run to close to 58-43, but never got closer.
The Hurricanes (3-1) head to Orlando later this week for the ESPN Events Invitational, where they will play Dayton on Thanksgiving Day at noon (ESPN2), Kansas or North Texas on Friday, and on Sunday the Canes play a third game against Alabama, Belmont, Drake or Iona.
The Rattlers (1-2) were led by 6-9 forward DJ Jones, who scored 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds. Guard Jalen Speer had 19 points, including four three-pointers.
FAMU had several South Florida natives on its roster, including freshman Jordan Jackson, a Columbus High grad who is the son of Heat announcer Jason Jackson and UM senior associate athletic director Shirelle Jackson.
Other FAMU locals included Jahvon Smith (Hallendale Beach), Caleb Muller (Boca Raton), and Wylie Howard III (Lauderhill).
This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 10:48 PM.