UM loses 78-74 in OT to Mount St. Mary’s, drops to 4-8 for season. Here’s what happened
The University of Miami men’s basketball team heads into the holiday break deflated after a 78-74 overtime loss at home to Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.
It was the Hurricanes’ eighth loss in the past nine games, with the lone win coming against Presbyterian College. UM dropped to 4-8 with the loss.
The Canes came out cold against the Mountaineers, who play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and trailed until the 10-minute mark, when a three-point basket by freshman Jalil Bethea put the Hurricanes ahead 15-13.
Bethea, a five-star recruit out of Philadelphia, came off the bench, gave UM some much-needed scoring and was a big reason the Canes led by 10 at halftime 38-28.
The Mountaineers, who held Miami center Lynn Kidd scoreless in the first half, trapped in the second half and the Hurricanes had trouble adjusting. Mount St. Mary’s chipped away at UM’s lead, tied it at 62-62 with four minutes to go and the fans at the Watsco Center rose to their feet for the final frenetic minutes, during which the score was tied three times.
A Bethea jumper with a minute to go in regulation forced the game into overtime at 66-66. He made a pair of free throws to keep the score knotted at 70 with three minutes to go in the overtime period and stole the ball from Dola Adebayo (no relation to Heat star Bam) with 34 seconds remaining, igniting the crowd.
The freshman had a chance to be the hero and salvage the day for UM with 16 seconds to go. The Hurricanes trailed by three and Bethea had the ball in his hands, but he missed a pullup jumper, Mount St. Mary’s got the ball back and held on for the win.
Javon Ervin hit three of four from the line in the final minute of overtime to keep the Mountaineers (8-4) ahead. Five Mount St. Mary’s players finished in double figures, led by Terrell Ard, Jr. with 18 points.
Miami missed six of its last seven shots, went 5-of-25 from three-point range and was outrebounded 38-36.
Bethea finished with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes. Matt Cleveland was UM’s leading scorer with 19 points and Jalen Blackmon added 16 points. Kidd chipped in eight points and had a game-high 13 rebounds.
Coach Jim Larranaga and his players were dejected after the game as they tried to explain what went wrong.
“In the second half we became very passive, I put Jalen and Jalil back in, but they started trapping us and normally when a team is pressing you, you’ve got to attack it, but we were so passive, we turned the ball over and became very tentative,” Larranaga said.
Poor shooting from beyond the arc was also to blame for the latest loss. Blackmon went 2-for-9, Cleveland went 1-for-4, and Brandon Johnson and A.J. Staton-McCray were combined 0-for-6.
“A team I thought would be a great three-point shooting team this year went 5-for-25 from three, and most of the shots were open,” Larranaga said.
Bethea added: “We had a lot of good looks and missed a lot of them, and I feel like that was the biggest thing. Mount St. Mary’s is plays aggressive and pushed us and just outscored us.”
Although it was no consolation for the loss, Bethea felt Saturday was his best game so far in a UM uniform. “I was much more calm. All the other games I was more anxious, thinking a lot and [Saturday] I meditated, did my breathing exercises and came in with the right mindset.”
Kidd and Johnson, who combined for 42 points against Presbyterian last weekend, managed only 10 points on Saturday. Johnson’s only offensive contribution was a layup.
“We need those two guys to play like they did last weekend,” Larranaga said. “Brandon is such an important part of our offense. He handles the ball a lot, and if he doesn’t get double figure points and close to double figure rebounds, we don’t have anybody that can do that for us.”
Point guard Nijel Pack missed his third game with a right ankle injury. “Nijel and his teammates are going home (for the break), when he gets back, we’ll probably get an update,” Larranaga said.
Freshman Divine Ugochukwu started in place of Pack, went 0-for-2 with two rebounds and no assists in 19 minutes. He was ill in the past few days, missed half of practice on Friday, and Larranaga said he wasn’t his usual energetic self on Saturday.
Isaiah Johnson-Arigu had been battling flu symptoms since last week and did not play.
One South Florida native who was happy with the result was Mount St. Mary’s freshman Trey Wilson, a Miramar native who went to Miami Country Day. He played four minutes and grabbed a rebound.
The Hurricanes return to action Jan. 1 on the road against Boston College.
Haley Cavinder named Maui Classic MVP
Haley Cavinder continued her standout play this season as the UM guard was named Tournament MVP of the Maui Classic after leading the Hurricanes to a pair of victories.
She recorded her third straight double-double with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance in a 61-56 win over Oregon State Saturday night. She also dished out a team-high five assists. Cavinder, who returned to UM this season after taking a one-year hiatus from basketball, averaged 22.5 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists per game throughout the event.
Cameron Williams scored a team-high 21 points and had five rebounds as the Hurricanes improved to 11-1 under first-year coach Tricia Cullop. Williams was named to the Maui Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 17.5 points and six rebounds, while shooting 53.6 percent from the field across Miami’s victories over Nevada and Oregon State.
Senior guard Jasmyne Roberts also had a big game against Oregon State with 11 points, eight rebounds, one steal and one block. Hanna Cavinder, Haley’s twin sister, added four points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Miami held Oregon State to 35.2 percent shooting from the field and 19.2 percent from behind the arc.
The Canes’ next game is at home on Sunday, Dec. 29 against 19th-ranked ACC foe North Carolina.
This story was originally published December 21, 2024 at 5:44 PM.