Miami Hurricanes Outlast Columbia in Final Non-Conference Game
The Miami Hurricanes once again rode a quick start and held on as they defeated Columbia 78-67 in their final non-conference game of the season.
Miami opened up a 23-10 lead almost halfway through the first half and settled into halftime up 41-31. Columbia made a second half run, before the Hurricanes pulled away for the 11 point victory.
Ja’Quan Newton scored a career high 22 points, Davon Reed continued to be hot with 18 and Anthony Lawrence had 10 points, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals to push the Hurricanes to 10-2 heading into Saturday’s ACC opener against North Carolina State at the Watsco Center.
Newton was able to play well in spite of dealing with a hyperextended left knee the last two weeks.
“I can’t move like how I really want to move out there,” Newton said. “Personally, for me I haven’t played basketball in a week. I couldn’t work out. When I went out today I wasn’t in the best rhythm that I’ve been in.”
The Hurricanes struggled to find an offensive rhythm. They committed a season high 20 turnovers, ten by Newton.
Columbia closed to within 51-49 just over seven minutes into the second half. Miami answered by extending the lead to seven and the Lions got no closer than five after that. Columbia was led by Luke Petrasek with 16, Jeff Coby (from Pembroke Pines) with 13 and Mike Smith with 12.
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Facing a good shooting team, the Hurricanes were not as effective as they have been defensively, but played well enough to win. Columbia made just three of its ten three-point attempts in the first half and only attempted one after halftime.
The Lions shot 47.3 percent for the game. That’s over ten percent better than Miami’s average of 37.2 percent field goal percentage against.
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Miami was able to gain the first half lead with hot shooting from three-point range. The Hurricanes connected on six of their 13 three-point attempts before halftime. Reed and Newton combined to make six of the 12 three-point attempts on the night.
The Hurricanes steadily increased the lead over the final few minutes to pull away with the 11 point victory. Bruce Brown continued his all-around floor game. He finished with eight points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The win was the 1,000th in Miami History. The Canes first win was in their inaugural game, a 45-20 win over instate rival Rollins College under coach Art Webb. Jim Larranaga also led Miami to its 900th win in school history, a 73-58 win over Hawaii in 2012.
The win was Miami’s 20th straight at home. The Hurricanes last lost a home game in November 2015 to Northeastern. This was Columbia’s first game since December 11 after being off for final exams.
