CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Isaiah Wong scored 22 points and No. 25 Miami beat St. Francis (Pa.) 91-76 on Saturday.
Wooga Poplar added a career-high 20 points and Bensley Joseph and Norchad Omier each scored 14 points for the Hurricanes (11-1), who won their seventh straight. It's the first week the Hurricanes earned an in-season Top-25 ranking since March 12, 2018, when they landed at 22.
Miami offset a pesky first half by the Red Flash (3-9) and took the lead for good with seven unanswered points to open the second half. Wong’s 3-point-play capped the early run and put Miami ahead 44-37.
Poplar’s dunk with 12:28 remaining gave the Hurricanes their first double-digit lead at 59-48. Miami also got double-figure scoring from Jordan Miller and Anthony Walker, who had 10 points each.
Josh Cohen scored 30 points and Landon Moore finished with 25 points for St. Francis.
Behind a combined 17 points from Moore and Cohen, the Red Flash led 20-14 in the opening 10 minutes. Moore’s 3-point play with 46 seconds left put St. Francis ahead 37-35 before Wong’s steal and fast-break dunk tied it at halftime.
Miami sophomore guard Nijel Pack, the team’s third-leading scorer, didn’t play because of an undisclosed illness. Pack was averaging 11.3 points.
BIG PICTURE
St. Francis: The loss extended the Red Flash’s road slide to six. It is the longest road skid since the 2018-19 team lost its first seven.
Miami: Wong, a fourth-year junior guard, was recently named Oscar Robertson Player of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association after 36- and 23-point outings in Miami’s previous games. Wong already received player of the week honors.
UP NEXT
St. Francis: Visits Robert Morris on Wednesday.
Miami: Hosts No. 2 Virginia on Tuesday.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
