Miami Hurricanes cruise to 93-63 win over Coppin St., will get tougher tests next week
Things are about to get much more difficult for the University of Miami men’s basketball team, which cruised through its first three non-conference games of the season, including a 93-63 home win over Coppin State on Sunday afternoon.
Six Hurricanes scored in double figures, led by Matthew Cleveland with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Brandon Johnson, a senior transfer from East Carolina, reached 1,000 career points with 14 on Sunday and added eight rebounds. Lynn Kidd and Divine Ugochukwu chipped in 12 apiece, A.J. Staton-McCray had 11 and Jalen Blackmon 10.
The Hurricanes won their first three games by an average of 32 points, but have a string of challenging opponents coming up, starting with Drake on Thursday at noon in the opening game of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in South Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Miami beat Drake in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and although both teams look drastically different now, it should be a high-level game.
In addition to UM and Drake, the Charleston tournament features FAU, Oklahoma State, Seton Hall, VCU, Vanderbilt and Nevada. The winner of Miami vs. Drake plays the winner of FAU vs. Oklahoma State, and the losers of both games face each other in the consolation bracket.
“This tournament will be a good test for us with Drake to start out,” said Cleveland, who returned to the starting lineup after working his way back from a concussion. “They have a new coaching staff and a lot of good players. Our defense will really be put to the test.”
The Hurricanes held Coppin State to 19 first-half points, but gave up 44 in the second half, which did not please UM coach Jim Larranaga. He and his players agreed that defense is the priority as they head to Charleston.
“We know all our guys can score, so our biggest focus is defense,” Cleveland said. “We’ll be playing higher-caliber players who can make more shots, so defense is going to be a big emphasis in upcoming games.”
Larranaga is eager to see how his new-look team performs against higher-level teams, many of which reached the post-season last spring.
“We’ll see as we step up in competition, the size of the athletes, the speed, the skills, we’ll see this weekend how we stack up,” Larranaga said. “We haven’t played against the 6-10s, the 6-11s, the 7-footers. We’re getting ready to, so we’ll find out pretty quickly.”
Miami dominated Coppin State (0-6) from the opening tip and raced to a 24-point halftime lead, 43-19. The Hurricanes shot 60 percent from three-point range in the first half (9-of-15) and 52 percent overall while the Eagles missed all seven of their shots from beyond the arc in the first half and shot 27 percent overall.
UM shot 56.3 percent for the game and 52 percent from three-point range. Larranaga was pleased with the Canes’ assist-to-turnover ratio (21 assists, nine turnovers). Nijel Pack had nine of UM’s assists. Miami also displayed its depth with a 36-13 advantage in bench points.
Asked the biggest difference he sees from last season’s team, Cleveland replied: “We’re a lot deeper. All four of the freshmen can really score. They’re still getting comfortable, getting used to this level, but when all of them get comfortable, they can play at this level at a high level.”
In addition to Ugochukwu, other freshman scorers included Jalil Bethea with seven points in 15 minutes, and Isaiah Johnson-Arigu with four points in four minutes. Austin Swartz did not score, but Larranaga praised his defense.
Cleveland also mentioned that with so many veteran transfers, the team is more mature and communicating better.
Johnson added: “We move the ball well, play together. There’s no jealousy. We all want to see each other succeed.”
After the Charleston tournament the Hurricanes return home to play against Arkansas Dec. 3 in the SEC/ACC Challenge, followed by a home game against Clemson and trip to New York City to face Tennessee on Dec. 10 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.