Writer - Derek Robbie
Coral Gables, FL - Miami beat Louisville 78-75 in an overtime thriller. Both sides traded leads throughout the contest; however, the Canes eventually came out on top. The U improved to 15-4 on the season with a 4-3 record in the ACC. However, the Cardinals dropped to 15-5 with a 5-2 conference record in the ACC.
The first half was an evenly matched contest. Both Louisville and Miami had their share of the lead throughout the half.
The Canes went on a 10-0 run that lasted just under two minutes in the middle of the first half to take a 19-13 lead with 12 minutes in the opening half.
The Cardinals clawed back from the early six-point deficit, and both teams took turns with the lead. Although at the half, the Cardinals had a narrow 38-37 edge of the Hurricanes.
At the break, freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV led the Canes with 10 points, while sophomore Dewan Huell was not far behind Walker IV with eight points at the half.
Both Anas Mahmoud and Deng Adel lead the Cardinals with eight points each at the half. While, their teammate, Ray Spalding was just trailing Adel and Mahmoud with 7 points by halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, Louisville started off hot getting a 44-37 lead.
“When we fell behind by seven to start the second half,” Miami Head Coach Jim Larrañaga said about the slow start to the second half. “We called a timeout, and I really challenged them. I didn’t think we were playing as hard as we could. I didn’t think we were playing as physical as we could. We weren’t rebounding as much as we could, and we were making their job easy. And then Ja’Quan Newton just took over the game with his defensive effort. He sent a message to everyone on the team. You gotta pick it up and play a lot harder.”
The Canes tightened it up defensively, and it was visibly obvious that it was so. It seemed as if Miami regained momentum in the match when the freshman from New Zealand, Sam Waardenburg sprinted back on a Louisville fast break to make a huge block against the glass.
Both the Canes and Cardinals exchanged leads in the final ten minutes or so of the game.
Eventually, Miami’s freshman sensation, Walker IV took the game into his hands with under five seconds remaining, and made the layup of his life to tie the game at 69 to force it into overtime.
“I seen a bucket!,” Said Lonnie Walker IV about his game tying layup. “Even before that shot, I made a couple of good layups, had a couple of good threes. So, it was just all about confidence, and understanding that I could make that shot.”
Both Miami and Louisville got off to a slow start in the overtime period. The first points of overtime did not come until about two minutes in when Louisville guard Quentin Snider made two free throws.
Miami ultimately retook the lead with 41 seconds in overtime from a Huell put back dunk, and they held on to the lead until the final buzzer. This was in part from a massive block from Walker IV with a mere 3 seconds remaining in the game.
Miami won 78-75 in an intense overtime game. The Canes play at Florida State this Saturday, January 27th at 4:00 P.M. EST, and Louisville hosts Wake Forest Saturday at 8:00 P.M. EST.
The first half was an evenly matched contest. Both Louisville and Miami had their share of the lead throughout the half.
The Canes went on a 10-0 run that lasted just under two minutes in the middle of the first half to take a 19-13 lead with 12 minutes in the opening half.
The Cardinals clawed back from the early six-point deficit, and both teams took turns with the lead. Although at the half, the Cardinals had a narrow 38-37 edge of the Hurricanes.
At the break, freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV led the Canes with 10 points, while sophomore Dewan Huell was not far behind Walker IV with eight points at the half.
Both Anas Mahmoud and Deng Adel lead the Cardinals with eight points each at the half. While, their teammate, Ray Spalding was just trailing Adel and Mahmoud with 7 points by halftime.
At the beginning of the second half, Louisville started off hot getting a 44-37 lead.
“When we fell behind by seven to start the second half,” Miami Head Coach Jim Larrañaga said about the slow start to the second half. “We called a timeout, and I really challenged them. I didn’t think we were playing as hard as we could. I didn’t think we were playing as physical as we could. We weren’t rebounding as much as we could, and we were making their job easy. And then Ja’Quan Newton just took over the game with his defensive effort. He sent a message to everyone on the team. You gotta pick it up and play a lot harder.”
The Canes tightened it up defensively, and it was visibly obvious that it was so. It seemed as if Miami regained momentum in the match when the freshman from New Zealand, Sam Waardenburg sprinted back on a Louisville fast break to make a huge block against the glass.
Both the Canes and Cardinals exchanged leads in the final ten minutes or so of the game.
Eventually, Miami’s freshman sensation, Walker IV took the game into his hands with under five seconds remaining, and made the layup of his life to tie the game at 69 to force it into overtime.
“I seen a bucket!,” Said Lonnie Walker IV about his game tying layup. “Even before that shot, I made a couple of good layups, had a couple of good threes. So, it was just all about confidence, and understanding that I could make that shot.”
Both Miami and Louisville got off to a slow start in the overtime period. The first points of overtime did not come until about two minutes in when Louisville guard Quentin Snider made two free throws.
Miami ultimately retook the lead with 41 seconds in overtime from a Huell put back dunk, and they held on to the lead until the final buzzer. This was in part from a massive block from Walker IV with a mere 3 seconds remaining in the game.
Miami won 78-75 in an intense overtime game. The Canes play at Florida State this Saturday, January 27th at 4:00 P.M. EST, and Louisville hosts Wake Forest Saturday at 8:00 P.M. EST.