The Miami Hurricanes won their first game of the season against the Jacksonville Dolphins in a Sunshine State showdown Monday night.
The game marked plenty of firsts for the Hurricanes, including the first game of the season and first win. It was especially meaningful for new head coach Jai Lucas, who was hired in early March following a historically poor season for Miami – a year defined by a lost identity after the mid-season retirement of Hall of Famer Jim Larrañaga.
Before the game even began, TCU transfer and Orlando native Ernest Udeh Jr. hopped on the mic, greeting and thanking all in attendance for the beginning of a new era of Miami Hurricanes basketball under Coach Lucas. In an arena that was awfully quiet last year due to poor performance, Coral Gables seemed eager to watch the beginning of a new chapter of Canes basketball in person.
Miami won the first tip-off of the season, which hopefully is a good omen for what’s to come, and Michigan transfer guard Tre Donaldson scored the first two points of the game.
The Hurricanes’ interior defense was suffocating to begin the game, allowing the first two-point conversion only after around the 12 minute mark. The perimeter defense was solid early as well, except Jacksonville stayed close at the start because they made four straight threes. On offense, Malik Reneau dropped nine points and made a lot of tough, physical layups, but the concern around Miami before the season about their shooting proved true as they only made one three-pointer on eight attempts in the first half. However, the silver lining to that is they attacked inside often, drawing numerous fouls and reaching the bonus with 8:51 left in the first half. The Canes led 41-35 at the end of the half.
As for the second half, Miami began to pull away by picking apart the Dolphins’ defense with passes to the free throw line, leading to backdoor cuts in the paint. This proved as an alternative for the Canes’ inability to consistently make shots around the perimeter. Udeh Jr. became a high flyer in the paint in the second half, converting on four alley-oop dunks while continuing the theme of backdoor cuts, darting in from the right corner all four times. He almost made a fifth but was fouled on the way up. Again, Miami found themselves in the bonus with over half the period left to go, greatly contributing to their dominant second-half performance. The final score was 86-69 Miami, opening their season with a home victory.
Key Takeaways:
Defense is definitely Miami’s highlight. They were physical but clean to begin the first half as their first foul was with 10:24 left in the first period. However, they became a little sloppy as the half went on, recording six more fouls in the next six minutes. Additionally, Donaldson brings a valuable chippiness to this Hurricanes roster, playing with ferocious intensity on both sides of the ball.
During the offseason, Coach Lucas noted that size positionally along with defense and rebounding were atop his main focuses entering his first year as a head coach for the U. When asked about his level of satisfaction on that issue Monday after seeing his team play their first game, he explained why he is not satisfied despite enjoying the win.
“One, we [Miami] didn’t play to the level of the standard, but two, it wasn’t who we have been,” Lucas said. Additionally, he noted that he always wants to keep teams under 70 points, less than six made threes, and right around 40 percent from the field. Based on those factors, he graded his own defense around a D and emphasized their need to get better.
Overall, it was a good first win for the Canes and Jai Lucas, defeating the Jacksonville Dolphins by 17 in a game where no player had more than 10 shot attempts individually, highlighting the team effort in the home opener.
Miami will have a quick turnaround as an underrated Bethune Cookman team, who just took No. 20 Auburn to overtime, will travel to Coral Gables to face the Canes at the Watsco Center on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.