Miami’s Winless Path in Conference Play continues as No. 3 Duke Buries the Hurricanes
The Miami Hurricanes (4-13, 0-6 ACC) walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium and were run off the floor as the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils (15-2, 7-0 ACC) buried the Hurricanes from beyond the in an 89-54 loss for the team’s sixth straight loss of the season.
As expected, the Hurricanes could not match the offensive and defensive output of the Blue Devils as they finished shooting 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three, over 20 assists, and over 40 rebounds. It was almost a perfect game for the Blue Devils and this is without their superstar player Cooper Flagg playing his best game.
Flagg finished the day with only 13 points, six assist, and continued his turnover problem with six.
The issue was Miami couldn’t play man-to-man and played most of the game in zone and they instantly paid for it. Duke in the first half ended the game after making 11 three-pointers while the Hurricanes could only mustard up one.
Most of those three-pointers came from the second-best player on Duke who is also projected to go in the top 10. Freshman Kon Knueppel led both teams in scoring finishing with 25 points shooting 9-11 from the field and 6-8 from beyond the arch. He had 18 in the first and the Hurricanes could do nothing to stop him.
Defensively, the Canes could be the worst in the country but what was more disappointing was the offensive performance. Big man Lynn Kidd was not in foul trouble tonight and finished with a team-high 20 points but the biggest concern was Matthew Cleveland.
Cleveland over the past six games averaged over 20 points a game and finished tonight with only three. He only took three shots and looked passive all night. Freshman Austin Swartz was the second leading scorer with 11 as the team looked and felt lifeless.
Miami will return home where they will play the first of their next three games against the newest additions to the ACC in the SMU Mustangs on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET.
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