UM men’s basketball team hopes to get back on track vs. Nebraska in ACC-Big Ten Challenge
They slipped from No. 15 to No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 after a heartbreaking home loss at the buzzer to Northeastern, but the University of Miami men’s basketball team has a chance to get back on track Tuesday night at Nebraska in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
The Hurricanes (5-1) play the Cornhuskers (5-2) in the annual conference duel, and UM players and coaches are hoping for a better outcome than the last time these two teams met in Lincoln. Nebraska won that ACC-Big Ten Challenge 60-49 on Dec. 4, 2013. In that game, the Huskers held the rebuilding Hurricanes to 13 points in the first half.
Rion Brown led UM that night with 25 points — 23 in the second half — but the rest of the team struggled. Davon Reed went 2 for 11 and Tonye Jekiri scored two points. They are the only players remaining on this year’s roster, and both have been playing much better of late.
Reed had a big game against Northeastern, scoring a career-high 19 points, and also had seven rebounds, four assists and steal and a block. Jekiri had 12 rebounds, eight points, and a monster block in the closing minutes.
Miami started the season 5-0 and entered Thanksgiving on a high after beating back-to-back Top 25 opponents at the Puerto Rico Tipoff, and entering the Top 25 at No. 15. But Northeastern’s three-point shooting gave UM trouble. The Canes trailed much of the game, took a seven-point lead late, but were unable to hang on.
Nebraska’s two losses are to ranked teams — 87-63 to No. 8 Villanova and a four-point loss to No. 17 Cincinnati.
UM coach Jim Larrañaga is expecting another tough game, and has challenged his team to do a better job guarding jump shooters.
“This will be our first true road game; we have played at home and at neutral sites,” Larrañaga said. “Now, we have to play at a very hostile environment. It’s a team we played a couple years ago, and we lost, didn’t play well at all there. Hopefully, we can play much better than we did two years ago. They’re a very good team, in the Big Ten. It’s going to be a huge challenge.”
No. 21 UM men at Nebraska
What: ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
When, where: 9 p.m. Tuesday, Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska.
TV, radio: ESPNU; WHIM (1080 AM).
Records: UM 5-1, Nebraska 5-2.
Scouting report: The Hurricanes try to rebound after losing on a buzzer-beater to Northeastern. Miami is 0-4 on the road in ACC-Big Ten Challenges. The UM bench is averaging 28.3 ppg. Nebraska’s leading scorers are Andrew White III (14.9 ppg) and Shavon Shields (13.4 ppg).
This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "UM men’s basketball team hopes to get back on track vs. Nebraska in ACC-Big Ten Challenge."