The Miami Hurricanes need a win in the worst way.
The Hurricanes (3-3) were embarrassed last week when they lost three games in four days at the Charleston Classic in South Carolina.
On Saturday afternoon, the Hurricanes will look for a bounce-back game against visiting Charleston Southern (1-7).
This will be Miami’s first home game in nearly two full weeks.
Miami has talent, including point guard Nijel Pack, who leads the team in scoring (15.2) and assists (4.7).
The Hurricanes also have 6-foot-10 center Lynn Kidd, who is shooting 76.3 percent from the floor while averaging 11.3 points.
But the Hurricanes were exposed — at least in Charleston — as a weak team defensively and on the boards.
Drake beat Miami 14-5 on the offensive boards and won the game, 80-69. Oklahoma State shot 10-for-22 on 3-pointers and beat Miami 80-74, and VCU shot 50.9 percent from the floor to record a 77-70 win over the Hurricanes
Miami coach Jim Larranaga is hoping that a player such as Paul Djobet can step up in his reserve role.
“He worked very hard in the weight room in the offseason,” Larranaga said of Djobet. “He’s much stronger.”
Meanwhile, Charleston Southern is 0-6 away from home. But the Buccaneers have played a tough schedule, including three power-conference teams: Clemson, LSU and Georgia Tech.
The Buccaneers gave perhaps their best performance of the season in that 77-68 loss to LSU. Charleston Southern led 34-29 at halftime.
For the game, the Buccaneers had advantages on second-chance points (21-10) and points off turnovers (22-13). Individually, Daylen Berry led Charleston Southern with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Charleston Southern’s Saah Nimley is in his first season as a head coach. He is a former Buccaneers player and assistant coach. He was the Big South Conference Player of the Year in 2015.
Nimley’s top three players this season are Taje’ Kelly, Berry and R.J. Johnson.
Kelly leads the Buccaneers in scoring (14.9) and rebounds (7.1), Berry is averaging 12.1 points and a team-high 2.4 steals and Johnson is contributing 10.1 points and a club-best 4.8 assists.
In addition, freshman guard Anthony Gause is a player to watch. He is fourth on the team in scoring (9.3).
“He’s a supreme talent,” Nimley said of Gause. “He’s got to work on some things, particularly on defense. But he’s going to be a really good player.”
–Field Level Media
