NCAA News Wire
Miami 90, Duke 74
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
DURHAM, N.C. — Miami guard Angel Rodriguez scored 24 points as the Hurricanes used a sterling second half to stun fourth-ranked Duke 90-74 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke has lost consecutive regular-season games for the first time since February 2009.
Duke’s homecourt winning streak ended at 41 games, which was tied for the third-longest span in school history. The Blue Devils had won their previous 19 ACC home games.
Guard Manu Lecomte, a sophomore, added a career-best 23 points and guard Sheldon McClellan chipped in 14 points for Miami, which shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half to end up at 51.8 percent for the game.
Guard Quinn Cook’s 18 points and center Jahlil Okafor’s 15 points paced Duke (14-2, 2-2). Guard Rasheed Sulaimon and forward Amile Jefferson provided 14 points apiece.
Since the beginning of the 2009-10 season, Duke fell to 26-3 in the next game following a loss in all games.
Miami (12-4, 2-1), which played its first conference road game of the season, built a 45-39 lead in the first five minutes of the second half.
That prompted Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to remove his suit jacket and become much more animated.
A 7-2 run by Duke was answered by Rodriguez’s 3-pointer as the Hurricanes were on the way to a 57-46 edge with 11:41 to play.
Miami made 10 of its first 14 shots in the second half.
It was 66-54 with less than eight minutes to play. A banked-in 3-pointer by forward Omar Sherman shoved Miami’s lead to 69-54.
Duke forward Justise Winslow left with an apparent right shoulder injury with 16:31 to play, but he returned less than 3 1/2 minutes later.
Duke led 35-34 at halftime despite trailing for a large chunk of the half.
Rodriguez scored eight quick points — with two of the baskets being 3-pointers — as Miami went up 26-24. Rodriguez, who averaged 24.5 points in two previous games against top 10 opponents, didn’t score in the opening 10 minutes.
Duke, which rarely trailed during its first 13 games, faced a deficit for the third game in a row.
The opening half signaled low production for Duke, which averaged 92.2 points per game in its first eight home games entering the night.
Duke went back to the starting lineup it used in its first 14 games, with Jefferson in the starting five. He responded with eight points and seven rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
NOTES: Duke shot a season-low 36.9 percent in its loss Sunday at North Carolina State. … Miami F Tonye Jekiri is the ACC rebounding leader with 9.9 rebounds per game. … Miami won 10 nonconference games for the first time in coach Jim Larranaga’s four seasons. … A freshman led Duke in scoring in 12 of its first 15 games. However, senior G Quinn Cook was the Blue Devils’ top scorer Tuesday. … Duke goes to No. 6 Louisville for a matchup of Hall of Fame coaches Saturday afternoon. … Miami’s next game is Saturday at No. 12 Notre Dame, marking its third game against a nationally ranked foe in a four-game stretch.
