No. 19 Miami had three scorers with 20-plus points to overcome El Ellis’ career night as the Hurricanes outlasted Louisville 93-85 on Saturday night in Coral Gables, Fla.
Nijel Pack scored 22 points while Isaiah Wong and Norchad Omier had 21 apiece for the Hurricanes (20-5, 11-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who posted their eighth 20-win season under coach Jim Larranaga.
The Canes are alone in third place in the ACC race, a half-game behind co-leaders Virginia and Pittsburgh.
The three-pronged attack helped the Hurricanes negate Ellis’ career-high 33 points. Jae’Lyn Withers added 18 points for the Cardinals (3-22, 1-13).
Miami needed just over six minutes to increase a 42-41 halftime lead to 62-52. But the Cardinals hung around as they cut their deficit in half with a 6-of-6 shooting streak to get within 67-62 with 9:54 remaining.
It was down to a four-point game, 74-70, after Ellis hit a pair of free throws with 4:47 remaining as the Hurricanes went more than four minutes without a field goal.
Wong ended the drought with a layup and added a free throw for a 79-70 Miami lead with 3:46 left, and Pack added a 3-pointer at the 2:44 mark for an 82-72 Hurricanes lead.
Both teams enjoyed a successful shooting night, with Miami finishing 31 of 58 from the field (53.4 percent) and Louisville 33 of 57 (season-high 57.9 percent), but turnovers did the Cardinals in. Their 12th of the night led to a Harlond Beverly fastbreak dunk for an 86-75 Miami lead with just 1:11 remaining.
Miami enjoyed a 20-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Hurricanes jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Cardinals began chipping away behind Ellis’ 3-point shooting, and they were within 22-21 midway through the first half.
Miami came back with a 9-2 spurt to go up 31-23 and led 33-27 at the six-minute mark of the period.
Louisville went on a stunning 13-2 surge that included a 9-0 run to take a 36-33 lead at the four-minute mark of the period.
The Hurricanes then finished on a 9-5 run for the one-point lead.
–Field Level Media
