The Canes have reeled off 7 straight wins to start their season, and tonight they will expect to make it 8 as they host Boston University at the Watsco Center on the University of Miami campus. Boston comes into the matchup having won their last 3 games, but should be easily overmatched by the #10 ranked Canes Hoops team. Miami will use this game as another opportunity to figure out what the team needs to work on ahead of the start of ACC play at the end of the month.
On Saturday, while most of us were witnessing a tough performance by Canes Football in the ACC Championship Game, Miami's basketball team put together another balanced performance to take down Princeton in the Hoophall Miami Invitational. Dejan Vasiljevic led the Canes with 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting (including 5 of 7 from behind the arc), while Bruce Brown Jr had more success being aggressive on the offensive end, finishing with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting (including 4 of 5 from behind the arc) along with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Lonnie Walker IV appeared to have his breakthrough, adding 12 points, 5 rebounds, a block and a steal off the bench.
Saturday also had some Canes struggle to maintain their early season form, with Dewan Huell failing to score in double figures for the first time this season (9 points). Ja'Quan Newton had a difficult time finding his shot, finishing with 4 points on 2 of 9 shooting. Anthony Lawrence II only pitched in 5 points, but had a big night on the glass grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. After a solid-start to his Miami career, redshirt-freshman Sam Waardenburg has had his own struggles lately, finishing scoreless for the second consecutive game.
This is only the second meeting between the two schools, with Miami winning the previous meeting on December 27th, 1965 81-60. The Terriers are led by senior guard Cedric Hankerson. The Miami-native leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game, and will be sure to try to put on a show in front of his hometown crowd.
I expect Miami to run away with this one, with Miami's stifling defense combined with Boston University's inability to hit shots against lesser competition providing a recipe for a blow out. Miami will be hoping for DJ to continue his recent tear of hot shooting, as well as Bruce Brown Jr to continue affecting the game in multiple ways. Lonnie Walker IV will try to back up his best game so far with another solid performance as he tries to fulfill his widely-acknowledged potential. Dewan Huell, Ja'Quan Newton, and Sam Waardenburg will all be looking for bounce-back performances as the Canes look for consistency before the new year.
Canes win by 30+ in a complete performance.