CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The offense wasn’t great. The defense was, and No. 8 Miami started Atlantic Coast Conference play with a grind-it-out win.
Matthew Cleveland scored 14 points, Norchad Omier and Nijel Pack each added 13 and the Hurricanes beat Notre Dame 62-49 on Saturday in the ACC opener for both teams.
It was the first time Miami (6-1, 1-0) held a team under 50 points since a 46-44 loss to Virginia on March 4, 2020. And it was only the sixth time in its last 355 games that Notre Dame (3-4, 0-1) was held under 50 points, going back to Feb. 9, 2013.
“There’s been so much preseason hype because of the last two seasons,” Miami coach Jim Larrañaga said. “There’s been high expectation, which is great, but that’s on paper. It doesn’t win any games. You’ve got to play the game and you’ve got to play the opponent. I knew this game would be a much slower pace, much lower scoring.”
The Hurricanes — the only men’s team in the country to make the Elite Eight in both 2022 and 2023 — got 13 rebounds from Omier, seven assists from Pack and finished with a 16-0 edge in fast-break points.
J.R. Konieczny scored 14 for Notre Dame (3-4, 0-1). Tae Davis finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Fighting Irish, who missed their final 10 shots — but held Miami 24 points below its season average.
“It’s all positive,” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “There ain’t no moral victories, I can tell you that much. … There aren’t any. We’ve got to learn from this and we’ve got to keep getting better.”
With former Hurricane standouts like Bruce Brown — in town with the Indiana Pacers to play the Miami Heat — and Davon Reed sitting courtside, Miami held Notre Dame to 29% shooting, 19% on 3-pointers.
Miami’s Bensley Joseph drew the primary defensive assignment against Notre Dame freshman Markus Burton, who was averaging 16.3 points entering Saturday. Burton scored just six on 3 for 11 shooting, 0 for 5 from 3-point range.
“That’s the game,” Larrañaga said. “We won by (13), we held him 10 or 11 points below his average.”
Braeden Shrewsberry’s 3-pointer with 7:25 left in the first half put Notre Dame up 20-19. But Miami — in what has been a calling card for the Hurricanes this season, the big spurt — took the lead right back with a 12-0 run, with five different players scoring during the burst that started when Kyshawn George hit a 3-pointer.
It was the eighth time already this season that Miami had a run of at least 10-0 during a game. This one put the Hurricanes on top to stay, though the game remained relatively close until the end.
BIG PICTURE
Notre Dame: It was Notre Dame’s 21st consecutive loss in true road games against ranked teams, a stretch that started with a 79-70 loss at Miami on Feb. 3, 2016.
Miami: The Hurricanes are off to a 6-1 start for the second consecutive season. It’s the first time Miami has done that since 2015-16 (6-1) and 2016-17 (7-0).
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Miami will remain in the AP Top 25 for a 19th consecutive poll when the latest version is released Monday, extending its school record. The 95-73 loss at No. 12 Kentucky earlier in the week will almost certainly cost the Hurricanes a few spots.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame: Host Western Michigan on Tuesday.
Miami: Host LIU on Wednesday.
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