The Miami Hurricanes improved to 3-0 Monday night as they defeated the Stetson Hatters 102-61.
The Hurricanes recorded their first back-to-back 100-point games in over 35 years (1989). This string of dominant offensive performances for Miami comes as a surprise for multiple reasons: 1. Just in general, in college basketball, defense usually comes out stronger than offense early in the season. 2. Miami’s main focus and strength in the offseason was defense, while the offense looked like a work in progress. However, it is not as if the defense is slacking with the explosive offense. Miami has proved effective in all aspects of defense, forcing over 40 turnovers to begin the season.
To begin the game, the Hatters came out hot, knocking down two straight threes and causing a multitude of turnovers early on, leading Miami head coach Jai Lucas to spend his first timeout just under three minutes into the game. The Canes started to battle back, but another Hatters 6-0 run made it 17-11 before a media timeout at 11:03. It was clear Miami was struggling offensively as their first lead came with 8:43 left against a team in the middle of the ASUN, a relatively weak Division 1 conference. Their troubles were a direct result of their lack of consistent trust and performance in three-point shooting, as the first three by forward Malik Reneau gave them their first lead. Miami’s second three came right after from Tru Washington, growing the lead to six. This entire sequence was part of a Miami 15-point run, giving Miami a 30-20 lead. After that point, the game began to get away from Stetson, as the first half concluded with Miami leading 55 to Stetson’s 36.
The Hurricanes’ dominance continued and amplified in the second half, closing out a 40-point win against Stetson. Malik Reneau was the leading scorer with a double-double (22 points and 10 rebounds). When asked about the surprise level and how much the team expected him to be the dominant scorer, he responded humbly, attributing most to Coach Lucas, saying, “Just being in the right spots. Coach puts me in the right spots, I think that’s how I am able to get to my spots. Coach knows how to use me in the pockets and stuff like that, and then through our zones being that middle guy to put pressure on the defense in the middle.”
Reneau is an absolute force inside and is able to get to the rim with momentum from nearly anywhere on the court. On the defensive side of the ball, true freshman and Miami-native Dante Allen is very disciplined, causing a 10-second violation in the second half. And in the first half, he made an impressive steal that put him on his knees but quickly got back up, recovering for a fast-break aggressive slam. Shelton Henderson, another true freshman and five-star recruit out of high school, displayed his elite athleticism, making highly contested, physical layups inside throughout the game. He made it clear that he is only getting started. “I think I just let the game come to me,” Henderson said. “I am not trying to force anything. Just playing around with these guys, I let it flow. These first 3 games I’ve learned a lot about myself, about this team, about college basketball, and I am just going to get more comfortable playing.”
While the Canes have been dominating inferior competition to begin the season, they could not be more excited to face off against a top-10 team in the Florida Gators in Jacksonville this Sunday at 8:30 p.m. Both the players and Coach Lucas made it clear that the game will be a war, one fought on neutral ground, and Coach Lucas is excited for his guys to prove and show themselves how good they really are against an elite in-state foe.