CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Jumping out to an early lead, the University of Miami men’s basketball team did not trail as it cruised to an 80-65 victory over Georgia Tech Saturday afternoon at the Wastco Center.
Stuffing the stat sheet for Miami (12-14, 4-10 ACC), senior guard Anthony Lawrence II finished just shy of posting the program’s fourth triple-double, closing out the contest with 16 points, ten rebounds and nine assists.
“Guys really shared the ball in the first half,” Miami Head coach Jim Larranaga shared. “Second half, our defense the first six or seven minutes was not very good and gave them a chance to get back in it, but fortunately we played a lot better in the last 13 minutes and were able to come away with a terrific victory.”
Tying his season-high with five 3-pointers made, Dejan Vasiljevic tallied a game-high 21 points. Joining the pair in double figures, senior center Ebuka Izundu finished the game shooting 8-of-9 from the floor, notching 18 points and pulling down nine rebounds, while sophomore guard Chris Lykes scored 11 points.
For the contest, the Hurricanes shot 27-of-58 (46.6 percent) from the field, while hitting on 9-of-25 (36 percent) of their attempts from beyond the arc. Miami limited the Yellow Jackets (12-16, 4-11 ACC) 43.1 percent (23-of-58) from the field and 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) from long range.
The Hurricanes opened Saturday’s contest firing on all cylinders, shooting 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) through the opening 12 minutes of action, including 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from inside the arc and 50 percent on eight 3-point attempts. During the stretch, the Hurricanes took their largest lead of the stanza, 30-13.
The Hurricanes closed out the opening half making key plays on both ends of the court, capped by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Lawrence II to enter the locker room with a 39-23 advantage. The 23 points tied for the lowest point total allowed by the Hurricanes in a half this season.
“Yeah, I really wanted to get that triple-double,” Lawrence stated. “I wasn’t able to, but we got a good team win, and I’m happy.”
Overall, the Hurricanes swiped away six steals and shot 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe in the half, while Lawrence led the Canes with 11 points and six rebounds and Izundu shot 4-of-4 from the field to close out the half with eight points and five rebounds.
Up next, the Hurricanes will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., playing at Wake Forest Tuesday at 7 p.m. The ACC’s Regional Sports Networks, including FOX Sports South and FOX Sports Sun, have the broadcast.
