Monday, November 10th, saw the Miami Hurricanes decimate the North Florida Ospreys 89-51 to win their second straight game after losing their season opener to the top team in the nation, the Florida Gators. Five Hurricanes finished with double-digit points, looking to fulfill head coach Jai Lucas’ goals through each game of the 26-27 season. In their near 40-point win, Miami did have some moments when their play was sloppy; however, they were able to overpower the Ospreys on the glass and out-rebounded North Florida by 24. The Hurricanes will now gear up for their next game on Friday afternoon against the North Alabama Lions.
In the win over North Florida, Hurricanes forward Malik Reneau led all scorers with 16 points. Miami forwards Shelton Henderson and Caleb Gaskins finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively, while center Somto Cyril and Robert Miller III dropped 10 points each during the blowout win. The Hurricanes shot abysmal from deep, going five-for-27 while committing 13 turnovers compared to the Ospreys 17. Their 55 rebounds and 64 points in the paint are what helped Miami overcome their own struggles as they still transition to each other’s play. The now 17th-ranked Hurricanes must have a cleaner performance as a whole if they want to pick up a third straight win.
North Alabama comes into this matchup also with a 2-1 record. The Lions defeated UC Davis and Union in their first two games before falling to Oklahoma on Monday night. Quan Lax was the hero for North Alabama during their season opener when he dropped 19 points; then Mike Evbagharu scored 18 points in the win over Union and 27 in the loss to Oklahoma. Caden Harris has also been an important piece to this Lions team, even though he struggled Monday night against the Sooners when he finished with just three points. During the loss to Oklahoma, North Alabama committed 13 turnovers compared to the Sooners’ six, and then the Lions were out-rebounded by three, two big factors that changed North Alabama’s hopes of staying undefeated.
Miami will need to continue to rely on their physicality and play bully ball on the glass and inside the paint. On defense, the Hurricanes must stop Lax, Evbagharu, and Harris before they heat up and take over the game. Most importantly, Miami must avoid the sloppy play from the first few games, and the cohesiveness between the team needs to grow. For North Alabama, they need their scorers to get the team on a run quickly and run big enough that they pressure the Hurricanes to come back from. Lax and Evbagharu must outplay Henderson and Gaskins, while trying to put Cyril in foul trouble or avoid his efficient rebounding game. Turnovers will play a big part for both teams, so both the Hurricanes and Lions need to play their best brand of basketball yet.
The Hurricanes will need to see the continued growth of Henderson and Cyril; however, they’ll also need Acaden Lewis to find his offensive groove once again. Lewis cooked up 24 points in the loss to the Gators in Miami’s season opener but finished with just five and two points against the Wagner Seahawks and North Florida. North Alabama will put up a fight, but I’m not too sure it will be enough to match up with the Hurricanes’ physicality. I have Miami taking a 74-67 win Friday afternoon.
