Canes Hoops Recap: Miami with Blowout Win on Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is a day when friends and family gather around the table, and feast as a group.

The Miami Hurricanes feasted together on the La Salle Expolorers, winning 85-49.

Every player at the table in Fullerton, California got in the scoreline and got a taste of the turkey, with Chris Lykes playing the role of lead host, scoring 18 points.

Newcomers showed why they sat at the main table on Thursday. Zach Johnson had a breakout performance with 12 points, his first 12 in a Cane uniform. Anthony Mack had five points and Deng Gak had four points and and seven rebounds.

The usual contributors also brought the essentials to the Thanksgiving potluck. DJ Vasiljevic had another game in double-figures, scoring 15 points on 3-5 3FG. Sam Waardenburg and Ebuka Izundu continued to fill the void of Dewan Hernandez by scoring 10 each, with Izundu having a team-high eight rebounds.

One game aspect that did give the Canes issues was La Salle’s full court press. Even as Miami stretched their lead, the Explorers fought to force turnovers on Miami’s side of the court. Their effort was early successful as UM gave away the ball 19 times.

However, if Miami broke any given press, the path to the hoop widened significantly.

Jared Kimbrough was another one of the few bright spots for La Salle, leading with a team high 10 points, but more importantly, and leading the strong effort early in the second half in spite of the numbers on the scoreboard.

In the waning moments, Willie Herenton scored his first career points in college basketball.

The walk-on followed this up with a three-pointer to put a holiday bow on Miami’s performance.

With the win, Miami will watch Northwestern and Fresno State play in the next game, as that winner will play the Canes tomorrow at 2PM Eastern in the Semifinals of the Wooden Legacy Tournament. The game will be on ESPN2.