Rion Brown’s 20 points led the University of Miami men’s basketball team past
Florida Tech, 84-55, in the season-opening exhibition game at the BankUnited
Center Wednesday.
After weeks of practicing and playing against each
other, Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga was glad his team was finally able to face
an actual opponent.
It’s great for our players to play against outside competition,” Larrañaga said.
“They’re tired of seeing each other. I’d like us to have two or three
exhibitions or scrimmages, but we only get one exhibition and one
scrimmage.”
Brown got the Hurricanes offense going, throwing down a
thunderous alley-oop from Garrius Adams to score Miami’s first points of the
year.
“Me and Rion practice a lot together and obviously it showed
today,” Adams said. “We did a good job and the rest of the team did,
too.”
After holding Florida Tech scoreless for nearly five minutes, Chris
Carter hit a three to get the Panthers on the board and snap a 7-0 Hurricanes
run.
The Hurricanes built a big lead early in the first half, running a
23-6 lead with 10:26 to go. Brown and Adams combined for 25 points in the first
half to propel Miami to a 40-18 lead at the break.
“He and Garrius are
seniors,” Larrañaga said of his senior wings. “We need them both to play hard
and well.”
Florida Tech battled back in the second half, cutting Miami’s 32-point
halftime lead to 10 with 11:09 to go. But the Hurricanes proved to be too much
for the Panthers, pulling away over the remainder of the second half to finish
off their 29-point victory.
Adams shined in his first game action since the 2011-12 season. The talented
wing finished with 16 points, tied for second-most for the Canes with freshman
Deandre Burnett.
“I’ve been practicing for a while now so I don’t feel
like this is anything more than how we practice,” Adams said. “We practice hard
and play hard. I felt great.”
Burnett opened the game cold, scoring just
four first half points on 1-of-5 shooting. But the Miami native found his stroke
in the second half, leading all Canes with 12 points after the
intermission.
“Anytime I step out on the court with my team, with my
brothers, it’s a great feeling,” Burnett said. “My teammates encouraged me and
that helped all the nerves go away.”
While Burnett was the standout
freshman, fellow newcomers Manu Lecomte, Davon Reed and James Kelly saw their
first game action in orange and green. Lecomte started and finished with two
points and three assists, while Reed added six points and Kelly grabbed three
rebounds off the bench.
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