Hurricanes Face North Florida In First Road Game Of Season
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JACKSONVILLE (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – In recent seasons, the early part of the schedule has meant 'taking care of business' to the Miami Hurricanes.
Miami got strong performances from its four highly touted freshmen - a combined 36 points and 19 rebounds - in a 92-43 rout of Western Carolina and will look to build on that as it heads to Jacksonville to take on North Florida on Wednesday.
The Ospreys are the two-time defending Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season champions and are picked to finish second in the league this season, so they figure to provide a tougher test for the Hurricanes.
Miami's starting lineup of returners all played solidly against overmatched Western Carolina, but it was the play of the newcomers that provided hope that the Hurricanes can outperform their predicted ninth-place finish in the ACC.
The two top-rated newcomers - 6-11 forward Dewan Huell (13 points, seven rebounds) and 6-5 guard Bruce Brown (seven points, eight rebounds, five assists) - made strong statements, while 7-foot center Rodney Miller scored five points and Australian recruit DJ Vasiljevic (11 points) showed off his range by draining 3-of-7 3-points shots.
"He can shoot it," coach Jim Larranaga told reporters regarding Vasiljevic's outside touch.
"I told Ja'Quan (Newton), next time down the court could you find him? And Ja'Quan, instead of driving to the basket, he was looking for him, looking for him and he threw it to him and DJ buried the three."
The Ospreys got off to a shaky start, turning the ball over 28 times in an 83-66 loss to Auburn before bouncing back Monday with a 109-73 drubbing of NAIA foe Edward Waters.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN3
ABOUT NORTH FLORIDA (1-1): The play of the Ospreys' top player, 6-foot-1 senior guard Dallas Moore, in the first two games mirrored that of his team with the 2015-16 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year scoring five points on 1-of-13 shooting against Auburn before erupting for a career-high 37 points against Edward Waters.
Moore, 6-11 redshirt junior Romelo Banks and 6-8 senior forward Chris Davenport will all have to be at their best if the Ospreys are to upset Miami.
Davenport has struggled in the first two games, averaging just 6.0 points, while Banks, who missed last season with a foot injury, is off to a great start, averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds, and blocked six shots against Edward Waters.
ABOUT MIAMI (1-0): The Hurricanes' three most experienced players - senior guard Davon Reed (eight points, 2-for-3 on 3-pointers), power forward Kamari Murphy (13 points, eight rebounds) and sophomore point guard Ja'Quan Newton (13 points) - were solid as expected against Western Carolina.
Also, 6-7 forward Anthony Lawrence (eight points, six assists, three assists, three rebounds, three blocks) and 6-11 center Ebuka Izundu showed they are ready for bigger roles this season.
Izundu was whistled for two fouls in the first 30 seconds of the game and went to the bench, but returned to score a team-high 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line in 13 minutes.
TIP-INS
- Miami leads the series against North Florida 3-0, outscoring the Ospreys by 29.3 points per game, with the last meeting in 2011.
- The Hurricanes held Western Carolina to 25.4 shooting from the field.
- Despite routing Edward Waters, North Florida turned the ball over 18 times, giving them 46 turnovers in two games.
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