National Basketball Association
Miami-Florida 70, Savannah State 39
When: 7:00 PM ET, Monday, December 8, 2014
Where: BankUnited Center, Coral Gables, Florida
Officials:
# Tim Comer, # Anthony Franklin, # Earl Walton
Attendance:
4274
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 21 Miami (Fla.) 70, Savannah State 39: Angel Rodriguez scored 17 points and the host Hurricanes pulled away after halftime, opening the second half with a 12-2 run.
Manu Lecomte added 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and Sheldon McClellan scored 15 points with four rebounds and three assists for Miami (9-1), which rebounded from its first loss of the season Saturday to Green Bay. Tonye Jekiri contributed eight points and nine rebounds and the Hurricanes shot 51.2 percent from the field and 9-of-19 from 3-point range.
Demarcus Bryant scored nine points to lead the Tigers (3-7), who allowed the game’s first 10 points and trailed by 17 before getting as close as seven points late in the opening half. Javaris Jenkins, Savannah State’s leading scorer at 9.3 points per game, finished with four points on 1-of-9 shooting - all from 3-point range.
Jekiri’s jumper two minutes into the second half started the decisive spurt for the Hurricanes, who followed Savannah State’s Khaleen Pinkett’s layup 40 seconds later with 10 consecutive points. Jekiri followed McClellan’s jumper with a layup, Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer and Lecomte’s three-point play with 13:21 to play pushed the Hurricanes’ lead to 46-25.
Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer in the opening minute and added three free throws two minutes later as the Hurricanes built a 10-0 advantage. Lecomte’s third 3-pointer of the half pushed the Miami advantage to 30-13 with under four minutes left before the Tigers scored 10 consecutive points – sparked by consecutive 3-pointers by Bryant – to get within seven points before Miami established a 34-23 halftime advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Miami coach Jim Larranaga is five victories away from 550 for his career. … Lecomte and Bryant each went 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the opening half, leading their respective teams with nine points at intermission. … Miami’s Joe Thomas finished with three steals and the Hurricanes forced 19 turnovers.
Top Game Performances
Savannah State |
|
Miami-Florida |
Demarcus Bryant 9 |
Scoring |
Angel Rodriguez 17 |
Khalen Pinkett 3 |
Assists |
Angel Rodriguez 4 |
Jamal Norman 6 |
Rebounds |
Tonye Jekiri 9 |
Javaris Jenkins 1 |
Free Throws Made |
Sheldon McClellan 6 |
Treyvon Francis 3 |
Steals |
Joe Thomas 3 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Tonye Jekiri 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Savannah State
|
39 |
32.6 |
7-20 |
2-6 |
10 |
20 |
0 |
7 |
19 |
Miami-Florida
|
70 |
51.2 |
9-19 |
19-23 |
11 |
29 |
2 |
12 |
16 |