Freshman Shelton Henderson scored a career-high 30 points, Malik Reneau added 22 and Miami beat Florida International 98-81 on Tuesday in Coral Gables, Fla.
Henderson shot 10 of 12 from the field and made 10 of 11 free throws while easily topping his average of 11.6 points. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Tru Washington scored 13 points while Ernest Udeh Jr. added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Hurricanes (10-2), who won their fifth straight game. Miami’s Tre Donaldson finished with 10 points and 12 assists.
The Hurricanes shot 19-for-31 (61.3%) from the field in the second half to stave off a pesky upset by city rival FIU (5-4). Miami scored 90 points or more for the sixth time this season.
Corey Stephenson amassed 23 points and six assists while Julian Mackey put up 17 points for the Panthers.
It was the teams’ first game since Nov. 23, 2023, when the Hurricanes rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit and won 86-80. Miami has won eight in a row vs. Florida International.
The game was tied at halftime, but the Hurricanes took the lead for good after they outscored the Panthers 13-5 to start the second half. Timo Malovec capped that surge with a 3-pointer, then added another hoop from behind arc gave Miami a 61-50 advantage with 14:44 to go.
FIU got within 68-62 on Stephenson’s 3-pointer with 10:11 remaining before Reneau’s consecutive layups capped a 7-0 run for Miami.
Down 10 early, FIU built a 40-35 lead with 3:21 remaining in the first half after an 11-3 spurt. Consecutive 3-pointers from Mackey and Ashton Williamson ended the spree.
Mackey had an opportunity to quadruple a one-point lead with 20 seconds remaining in the half when he was fouled attempting a 3-point attempt. However, he missed two of the three free throws, and Henderson scored on a layup to tie it 43-all entering the break.
Henderson’s dunk seven-plus minutes into the first half gave the Hurricanes their first double digit lead at 23-13. The Panthers responded with six unanswered points capped by Mackey’s layup with 10:41 remaining in the half.
–Field Level Media
