Miami Defeats North Florida to Close Out Non-Conference Play – University of Miami Athletics

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Three Hurricanes tallied double-doubles as the University of Miami men’s basketball team (10-2, 1-0 ACC) downed the North Florida Ospreys (7-8, 0-0 ASUN), 95-55, Friday night at the Watsco Center.

“I was very pleased with our effort, both offensively and defensively,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “I’d like us to keep improving in that area, but really concentrating on reducing our turnovers.”

Fourth-year junior Norchad Omier (27 points, 10 rebounds), junior Matthew Cleveland (15 points, 10 rebounds) and junior Bensley Joseph (11 points, 10 assists) all recorded double-doubles in the game.

Omier totaled 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting to eclipse the 1,500-point mark in his career. He is one of three active Division I players to record 1,500 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

Joseph, who tallied his first career double-double against North Florida, is just the fourth Hurricane since 2010 to record 10-plus points and 10-plus assists in a game, joining Isaiah Wong (2022), Bruce Brown (2017, 2016) and Angel Rodriguez (2016).

Sophomore Christian Watson and freshman Kyshawn George also scored in double-figures, pouring in 14 and 10 points, respectively.

It was all Omier in the first half for the Hurricanes as the Nicaragua native tallied 19 of his 27 points in the first 20 minutes of action.

Miami took its first double-digit lead of the game just four minutes into the contest, putting together a 13-0 run to lead North Florida, 13-3, at the 15:59 mark. The Ospreys cut the Miami lead to four with back-to-back threes but another 13-0 run from the Hurricanes put the home team ahead 42-27 at the half.

The Hurricanes’ bench came alive in the second half, accounting for 27 of Miami’s 53 second-half points. Watson led the Hurricanes in scoring during the final 20 minutes, totaling 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He finished the night with a career-high 14 points.

Freshman Paul Djobet also recorded a career high off the bench, pouring in seven points in the second half.

Miami scored 21 of the final 28 points to close out the victory, 95-55, in favor of the home team.

The Hurricanes return to conference action on Jan. 3 when they host the Clemson Tigers for the first game of the new year. Tipoff in Coral Gables is set for 8 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN.