Nijel Pack leads No. 19 Miami to 93-85 win over Louisville
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) Nijel Pack scored 22 points and No. 19 Miami beat Louisville 93-85 on Saturday night.
Five days following its dominant 22-point home win over Duke, Miami (20-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) could not shake off the conference's last-place team until Pack's 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining made it 82-72. Pack shot 8 of 14, including 4 of 9 on 3-pointers.
Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier finished with 21 points each and Jordan Miller added 10 for the Hurricanes, who are 14-0 at home.
''I feel in the ACC records don't really matter,'' Wong said. ''Everybody's tough. Everybody competes with the same energy. We just kept focused and played the hardest.''
El Ellis scored a career-high 33 points and had five assists while Jae'Lyn Withers finished with 18 points for the Cardinals (3-22, 1-13).
The Hurricanes built double-digit leads early in each half but Louisville responded and avoided the lopsided margins common of its season.
''That was a heck of a college basketball game,'' Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. ''I thought we played really well. I thought Louisville played outstanding basketball.''
The Hurricanes scored 20 points off turnovers and clinched the win with six converted free throws in the final 40 seconds. They finished 23 of 27 from the line.
''When you're playing a team like Miami, you can't give them 20 points off your turnovers,'' Cardinals coach Kenny Payne said. ''Whenever there's adversity, we compound the mistakes. We can't compound mistakes, especially on a night when we're scoring the ball really well.''
Bensley Joseph hit a 3-pointer 4:41 into the second half to put Miami ahead 60-49, but the Cardinals rallied and narrowed it to single digits.
Ellis' two free throws with 4:47 remaining cut the gap to 74-70.
''We were just trying not to let the game get out of reach,'' Ellis said. ''And even if they go on a run we had to continue to try to get stops and be solid on offense.''
The Cardinals overcame a game-starting 10-0 deficit and took their first lead at 34-33 on Ellis' jumper with 4:35 remaining in the first half. Withers' lay-up capped a 9-0 run and made it 36-33.
After Ellis' lay-up gave Louisville another three-point advantage at 38-35, Miami responded with seven unanswered points. Pack's lay-up with 1:10 left ended the spurt before Kamari Lands' 3-pointer with three seconds remaining got the Cardinals within 42-41 at halftime.
''We knew how good Ellis was and how big they tried to play,'' Pack said. ''In the second half we had to step it up defensively.''
HOME FOR THE WEEKEND
The Hurricanes' first half of the conference schedule featured one weekend home game. But the contest against Louisville began a stretch of four consecutive Saturday home appearances at Watsco Center. Miami's remaining conference home games - all on Saturday - will be against Wake Forest, Florida State and Pittsburgh.
BIG PICTURE
Miami: The victory secured the Hurricanes' 20th season of at least 20-wins. Eight of those seasons are under Larranaga.
Louisville: Ellis has scored 20 or more points in 10 games - five in the conference. He shot 1 of 10 from the field and finished with seven points in the Cardinals' 80-53 home loss against Miami Dec. 4.
''At the beginning of the season I was still trying to adjust the way coach wanted me to play,'' Ellis said. ''Tonight was one of those games that I let the game come to me. When you do that, the rim gets even bigger.''
UP NEXT
Louisville: Hosts No. 8 Virginia on Wednesday.
Miami: Visits North Carolina on Monday.
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Time | Team | Play | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
20:00 | Â | (Hurricanes gains possession) | Â | |
19:42 | Â | Jae'Lyn Withers personal foul | Â | |
19:40 | +2 | Norchad Omier makes two point layup (Wooga Poplar assists) | 0-2 | |
19:21 | Â | Mike James offensive foul | Â | |
19:21 | Â | Mike James turnover (offensive foul) | Â | |
19:04 | Â | Jordan Miller misses two point jump shot | Â | |
19:02 | Â | Jordan Miller offensive rebound | Â | |
18:57 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point jump shot (Jordan Miller assists) | 0-5 | |
18:35 | Â | Mike James misses three point jump shot | Â | |
18:33 | Â | Nijel Pack defensive rebound | Â | |
18:23 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point jump shot | 0-7 | |
18:02 | Â | Norchad Omier blocks Jae'Lyn Withers's two point jump shot | Â | |
18:00 | Â | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | Â | |
17:43 | +3 | Isaiah Wong makes three point jump shot (Nijel Pack assists) | 0-10 | |
17:41 | Â | Cardinals 30 second timeout | Â | |
17:26 | +3 | El Ellis makes three point jump shot | 3-10 | |
17:05 | Â | Jordan Miller misses three point jump shot | Â | |
17:03 | Â | El Ellis defensive rebound | Â | |
16:52 | Â | Jae'Lyn Withers turnover (Isaiah Wong steals) | Â | |
16:45 | Â | Nijel Pack misses three point jump shot | Â | |
16:43 | Â | Isaiah Wong offensive rebound | Â | |
16:38 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point layup | 3-12 | |
16:19 | +3 | El Ellis makes three point jump shot (Mike James assists) | 6-12 | |
16:02 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point jump shot (Wooga Poplar assists) | 6-14 | |
15:44 | Â | Norchad Omier personal foul | Â | |
15:44 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
15:23 | +2 | JJ Traynor makes two point jump shot | 8-14 | |
14:55 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point layup (Wooga Poplar assists) | 8-16 | |
14:36 | Â | El Ellis misses two point jump shot | Â | |
14:34 | Â | Sydney Curry offensive rebound | Â | |
14:33 | +2 | Sydney Curry makes two point layup | 10-16 | |
14:33 | Â | AJ Casey shooting foul | Â | |
14:33 | Â | Sydney Curry misses regular free throw 1 of 1 | Â | |
14:33 | Â | Wooga Poplar defensive rebound | Â | |
14:24 | Â | Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot | Â | |
14:22 | Â | Isaiah Wong offensive rebound | Â | |
14:09 | Â | Isaiah Wong turnover (Kamari Lands steals) | Â | |
14:02 | Â | JJ Traynor misses three point jump shot | Â | |
14:00 | Â | Wooga Poplar defensive rebound | Â | |
13:55 | +2 | AJ Casey makes two point dunk (Wooga Poplar assists) | 10-18 | |
13:42 | +2 | Mike James makes two point layup (JJ Traynor assists) | 12-18 | |
13:42 | Â | AJ Casey shooting foul | Â | |
13:42 | +1 | Mike James makes regular free throw 1 of 1 | 13-18 | |
13:28 | Â | Wooga Poplar misses three point jump shot | Â | |
13:26 | Â | JJ Traynor defensive rebound | Â | |
13:06 | +2 | El Ellis makes two point jump shot | 15-18 | |
12:41 | +2 | Norchad Omier makes two point jump shot | 15-20 | |
12:14 | Â | JJ Traynor misses three point jump shot | Â | |
12:08 | Â | Mike James personal foul | Â | |
11:47 | +2 | Isaiah Wong makes two point jump shot | 15-22 | |
11:29 | Â | Isaiah Wong personal foul | Â | |
11:29 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
11:19 | +3 | El Ellis makes three point jump shot (JJ Traynor assists) | 18-22 | |
11:00 | Â | Anthony Walker turnover | Â | |
10:29 | Â | Kamari Lands turnover (Nijel Pack steals) | Â | |
10:18 | Â | Nijel Pack misses two point jump shot | Â | |
10:14 | Â | Cardinals defensive rebound | Â | |
10:00 | +3 | Kamari Lands makes three point jump shot (JJ Traynor assists) | 21-22 | |
9:34 | Â | Jordan Miller misses two point jump shot | Â | |
9:32 | Â | Norchad Omier offensive rebound | Â | |
9:28 | +2 | Norchad Omier makes two point dunk | 21-24 | |
9:10 | Â | El Ellis misses three point jump shot | Â | |
9:08 | Â | Emmanuel Okorafor personal foul | Â | |
8:55 | +2 | Norchad Omier makes two point dunk (Isaiah Wong assists) | 21-26 | |
8:39 | +2 | Jae'Lyn Withers makes two point layup | 23-26 | |
8:18 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point layup (Isaiah Wong assists) | 23-28 | |
8:02 | Â | El Ellis turnover | Â | |
7:45 | +3 | Nijel Pack makes three point jump shot (Isaiah Wong assists) | 23-31 | |
7:13 | Â | Kamari Lands misses three point jump shot | Â | |
7:11 | Â | JJ Traynor offensive rebound | Â | |
7:02 | +2 | JJ Traynor makes two point dunk | 25-31 | |
6:48 | Â | Harlond Beverly misses two point jump shot | Â | |
6:46 | Â | Emmanuel Okorafor defensive rebound | Â | |
6:30 | +2 | Emmanuel Okorafor makes two point layup (Jae'Lyn Withers assists) | 27-31 | |
6:01 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point jump shot | 27-33 | |
5:33 | Â | Kamari Lands misses two point layup | Â | |
5:31 | Â | Cardinals offensive rebound | Â | |
5:31 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
5:28 | +3 | Jae'Lyn Withers makes three point jump shot (Kamari Lands assists) | 30-33 | |
5:14 | Â | Jordan Miller turnover (Roosevelt Wheeler steals) | Â | |
5:02 | +2 | El Ellis makes two point jump shot | 32-33 | |
4:44 | Â | Favour Aire misses two point hook shot | Â | |
4:42 | Â | Jae'Lyn Withers defensive rebound | Â | |
4:34 | +2 | El Ellis makes two point jump shot | 34-33 | |
4:15 | Â | Nijel Pack misses three point jump shot | Â | |
4:13 | Â | Jae'Lyn Withers defensive rebound | Â | |
4:00 | +2 | Jae'Lyn Withers makes two point layup | 36-33 | |
3:42 | Â | Jordan Miller misses three point jump shot | Â | |
3:40 | Â | Nijel Pack offensive rebound | Â | |
3:35 | Â | Nijel Pack misses three point jump shot | Â | |
3:33 | Â | Jordan Miller offensive rebound | Â | |
3:30 | +2 | Jordan Miller makes two point layup | 36-35 | |
3:16 | Â | El Ellis misses three point jump shot | Â | |
3:14 | Â | Wooga Poplar defensive rebound | Â | |
2:57 | Â | Isaiah Wong misses two point jump shot | Â | |
2:55 | Â | Kamari Lands defensive rebound | Â | |
2:33 | Â | Roosevelt Wheeler misses two point layup | Â | |
2:31 | Â | Jordan Miller defensive rebound | Â | |
2:31 | Â | Roosevelt Wheeler personal foul | Â | |
2:30 | Â | TV timeout | Â | |
2:18 | Â | Zan Payne personal foul | Â | |
2:07 | Â | Nijel Pack turnover (Jae'Lyn Withers steals) | Â | |
1:57 | Â | Roosevelt Wheeler misses two point dunk | Â | |
1:55 | Â | Zan Payne offensive rebound | Â | |
1:46 | +2 | El Ellis makes two point layup | 38-35 | |
1:34 | +3 | Wooga Poplar makes three point jump shot (Jordan Miller assists) | 38-38 | |
1:12 | Â | Jae'Lyn Withers misses three point jump shot | Â | |
1:10 | Â | Norchad Omier defensive rebound | Â | |
1:10 | Â | Roosevelt Wheeler personal foul | Â | |
1:10 | +1 | Norchad Omier makes regular free throw 1 of 2 | 38-39 | |
1:10 | +1 | Norchad Omier makes regular free throw 2 of 2 | 38-40 | |
0:46 | Â | Kamari Lands offensive foul | Â | |
0:46 | Â | Kamari Lands turnover (offensive foul) | Â | |
0:31 | +2 | Nijel Pack makes two point layup | 38-42 | |
0:03 | +3 | Kamari Lands makes three point jump shot (El Ellis assists) | 41-42 | |
0:00 | Â | End of period | Â |