GREAT team win!!!
Started off slow, but kept it within 1 at halftime & had some mishaps to start the 2nd half getting down by as much as 11, but in classic Cardiac Canes fashion maintained composure, stayed poise & just kept playing our game. We picked up Defensive intensity & went on multiple 6 & 8 point runs to cut the lead & eventually tie, then take it.
- Isaiah Wong had another great game scoring 16pts with 3blks 3rebs 2stls & 4asts. He was the offensive catalyst that lead to the comeback; his experience as a veteran Guard with a ton of starts comes in handy big time in moments like this because he’s never rattled or starts playing outside of himself when he get down by deficit, he just steps up & puts the team on his back & starts attacking. Wong has his flaws, but he more than makes up for it with his leadership & ability to stem the tide when it feels like things could be slipping away & getting out of hand. His calm under pressure is invaluable to this team.
- Norchad Omier finsihed with 17pts 9rebs 1blk & 1ast. Another good Defensive game against a very worthy opponent in a good big man like Omoruyi. Omier had a clutch bucket when the game was tied at 61 with a minute & some change left & Larra draws up a good play for him. His aggression on the boards is unreal, he missed his double double, but he’s still in the top 10 in rebounding in the Nation & 2nd in the ACC. Absolute Godsend of a player, NIL money well spent.
- Jordan Miller; another consistent game where it doesn’t seem like it, but once the game is over he’s filled up the stat sheet yet again. This time 17pts 10rebs 3ast & 1stl, although he had a few mental errors that resulted in turnovers down the stretch, but his impact is always felt every game. He had multiple clutch 3’s for us, especially when for most of the game we couldn’t buy a bucket from 3. His improvement this season has been huge for us & played a big role in why we’re 7-1 right now. He’s not the natural shot maker that McGusty was, but he’s come up big time for us when we needed him to this season.
- Bensley Joseph did a really good job with on-ball perimeter Defense against Cam Spencer. Spencer is a 53% shooter from the floor & 46% from 3, he was held to just 1-10 with only 3pts on the night & a lot of that was due in large part to Joseph.
- Pack started off ice-cold, but in true pure shooter fashion, he heated up when necessary & hit a timely clutch 3 to tie the game & hit the dagger to put away. Pack is a rhythm shooter, even when his shot isn’t falling, all he needs is to get feet under him & that elbow extended & he can drain one when we need it.
- Wooga Poplar didn’t have a great scoring night, but he played really good Defense down the stretch & made some plays in transition. He’s a energy 6th man type player who starts, but between he & Joseph the two of them provide good depth & work well in the defensive rotations.
Tonight was the first time I’ve seen both Omier & Casey on the floor at the same time, it was short lived, but I would like to see more of that in the future once we start ACC play.
Walker cannot play anymore, idk what’s wrong with him, but he’s not even an intramural caliber player anymore. Really hope Watson gets some opportunities to play, we could use another swing-F/G perimeter player that can get a bucket or two.
Early on Rutgers was filling it up from 3 in the 1st half, they finished 7-21 at 33% from 3, in the 2nd half they decided to take up some work as contractors because it was nothing but bricks. Rutgers out-rebounded us significantly on the boards, but the difference is they are a 3pt or die team & when the 3 isn’t dropping, they die. We played good 2nd half Defense, we finished with 8 blocks on the game, which is a big testament to our Defense especially considering we’re a smaller team.
Miami’s strength is scoring from the floor, no we’re not the best 3pt shooters, but where we excel is in the midrange/attack the basket/high % shot game; we get buckets even without being not too great from long distance. Coming into the game we were 47% from the floor as a team & tonight we shot 49%, which is really good. We were also 10-12 from the FT line, which is about as good as you can ask for from this team.
This was a great win to close out November & head into December to start ACC play. That NC ST in 2 weeks is gonna be appointment television, if we manage to pull that win off, we’ll be riding high til the UVA matchup.
We still have plenty to cleanup, but this is a good team that can make a legit run this season, just have to keep on trekking.
Go Canes!
