Tre Donaldson leads UM to win over Georgia Tech, Canes are 14-2 under Jai Lucas
Memo to University of Miami fans: Your basketball team is pretty good, too.
The Hurricanes football team is in the spotlight, and rightly so, with a national championship game a week away. Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team won its ninth game in a row on Saturday, a 91-81 home victory over Georgia Tech.
Miami improved to 14-2 overall, 3-0 in the ACC, and 10-0 at home under first-year coach Jai Lucas, who at 37 is the youngest coach in the conference. The Hurricanes already have equaled the number of league wins they had last season.
Point guard Tre Donaldson scored a career-high 27 points, dished out 10 assists and had just one turnover. He shot 8-of-13 from the field and made eight of his nine free throws. It was Donaldson’s fifth game this season with a double-double in points and assists, which is tied for first in the country.
Donaldson led the ACC in assist-turnover ratio going into the game, averaging 6.7 assists to 2.1 turnovers, and he will stay atop the list with his performance on Saturday.
The Michigan transfer was in command of the game from start to finish and stepped up big with seven straight points when Georgia Tech got to within five points of Miami with three minutes remaining.
“All glory goes to God and coach puts me in the right situation, we get the advantages we want, then it’s just being able to execute, get the ball there on time and on target and get these guys in areas where they thrive at,” Donaldson said of his outstanding afternoon.
“I was thinking, `Win the game.’ Whatever it takes to win, I’m going to do that for my team.”
Lucas said Donaldson’s winning mentality and ability to distribute and take care of the ball, and score if needed, are the reasons he wanted him on his team.
“He’s got that gene at the end of the game, and that’s what we saw when we recruited him,” Lucas said. “He’s done it everywhere he’s been. He did it in high school. He did it at Auburn, and he really showed it at Michigan last year, some of the big shots he hit. He loves those moments, and he delivers. I trust him in those moments to make the right plays.”
Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudemire said he has watched Donaldson for years, and while he has always been a clutch player, he is thriving more than ever with the Hurricanes.
“This is the best I’ve ever seen him play,” Stoudemire said. “This is probably the first time in his life he’s had a coach that believed in him from start to finish and looked the other way and let him play through his mistakes. You can play well when you’re given that type of string to be successful.”
Ernest Udeh Jr. recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. It was his tenth game with 10 or more rebounds. Malik Reneau added 18 points.
Students were back on campus after winter break and children of all ages were in the stands for Kids Day, energizing the crowd of 5,328 at the Watsco Center. It was the second largest crowd of the season.
Udeh Jr. excited the fans with several high-flying dunks.
“He’s like having a great wide receiver,” Lucas said of Udeh, Jr. “He’s like our version of [UM football player] Malachi Toney. We put him in these ball screen situations, throw a lob and he can get it. He’s up there some way. I just opens up everything else when you have somebody who’s such a lob threat.”
The Hurricanes raced to a 9-0 lead on back-to-back dunks by freshman Shelton Henderson, extended the gap to 17-4 and led 47-33 at halftime.
Henderson scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half. The Hurricanes shot 50 percent from the floor and 71 percent from the free throw line before the break.
Georgia Tech went on a 6-0 run to close to within five with four minutes remaining, but Timo Malovec’s three gave UM a bit of a cushion. The Yellow Jackets got back to within five, but Donaldson made sure they never got closer.
“In those moments, the one thing I can definitely say about this team is that we don’t fold,” Udeh Jr. said.
Donaldson and Udeh said the basketball program feeds on the success of the football team.
“It’s pride,” Udeh Jr. said. “When we wear that U on our chest, throw that U up, it’s just pride, no matter what sport it is.”
Miami has quietly become one of the top teams in the ACC early in the conference season. Going into Saturday’s game the Hurricanes ranked third in the ACC with 88 points per game and had won their games by an average margin of 19.6 points, which was second behind Duke.
The Canes also led the league in field goal percentage (51.7 percent), rebounding defense (30 per game), rebounding margin (plus-10.67) and were tied for the lead with 18.6 assists per game.
Georgia Tech dropped to 10-7 on the season and 1-3 in the ACC. Kowacie Reeves led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points. Lamar Washington had 21.
The Hurricanes hit the road next week for games Tuesday at Notre Dame and Saturday at Clemson before returning home to face state rival FSU on Jan. 20.
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 4:19 PM.