James leads with 26 points, Louisville scores last 9 points to beat Miami 80-71
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Mike James scored 26 points and Louisville scored the last nine points and beat Miami 80-71 on Wednesday night to end a four-game losing streak against the Hurricanes.
Louisville (6-9, 1-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which also ended a three-game skid overall, won its first game at Miami since 2019.
Curtis Williams made a pair of 3-pointers for Louisville to bookend a 10-1 surge that tied it 57-all midway through the second half. The game was tied five more times, the last at 71-all on Mathew Cleveland's alley-oop dunk for Miami, with 3:28 remaining.
Louisville ended the game by making 7 of 8 from the free-throw line. Miami missed its last seven field goals.
James was 8 of 12 from the floor, with five 3-pointers, and 5 of 6 at the free-throw line. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield added 22 points and nine rebounds for Louisville. Williams chipped in three from long range and finished with 13 points.
Cleveland scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Miami (11-3, 2-1), which has lost two consecutive games since its 95-82 win against then-No. 16 Clemson. Wooga Poplar added 18 points and had four from long range.
Poplar made three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the first half to help Miami build a 41-37 advantage. The Hurricanes scored 17 points from 11 Louisville turnovers. The Hurricanes opened the second on a 15-10 spurt for a 56-47 lead — their largest advantage of the game.
Miami, which entered shooting a nation-best 42% from distance, shot 32% (11 of 34) against the Cardinals.
Louisville hosts North Carolina State on Saturday.
Miami is on the road against Virginia Tech on Saturday.
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