College of Charleston
5-8
Miami (Fla.)
10-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| College of Charlesto | 12 | 28 | 40 |
| Miami | 32 | 35 | 67 |
Cougars Out-Toughed By Miami, 67-40
12/31/2014 3:08:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) – Angel Rodriguez scored 15 points as Miami snapped a two-game losing streak Tuesday night and routed College of Charleston, 67-40.
The Hurricanes (10-3) never trailed and increased a 20-point halftime lead with a 13-0 run early in the second half. Rodriguez began the surge with six consecutive points and Sheldon McClellan's 3-pointer with 13:57 left ended the spurt, giving the Hurricanes their first 30-point lead at 45-14.
McClellan finished with 11 points for Miami, which was ranked as high as 15 nationally four weeks ago. But consecutive losses to Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 19 and Providence three days later dropped the Hurricanes from the rankings.
Miami overcame a sluggish start and outscored Charleston (5-8) during a 3:35 stretch midway through the first half 13-2. Manu Lecomte keyed the surge with five points including a 3-pointer with 8:19 remaining that capped the run and increased the Hurricanes' lead to 18-4.
McClellan's layup with two seconds remaining gave Miami a 32-12 lead at halftime.
Both teams shot a combined 1-for-19 to start the game as Miami led 3-0 through the first 7:47. The Hurricanes missed nine consecutive shots until Tonye Jekiri's hook shot gave the Hurricanes a 5-0 lead with 12:13 remaining in the first half.
The Cougars were held scoreless and missed their first 10 shots until Glen Pierre's jumper 9:48 into the game.
David Wishon scored 10 points for Charleston, which lost its fourth straight.
The Cougars played their first game after the death of former reserve guard Chad Cooke on December 24. Cooke, who earned a berth on the Charleston roster as a walk-on the previous two seasons, was 20.
CofC will ring in the New Year at William & Mary in both teams' CAA opener on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Williamsburg, Va. The game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.
POSTGAME NOTES
• For the seventh time this season, the Cougars started Joe Chealey, Anthony Stitt, Canyon Barry, Donovan Gilmore and Adjehi Baru (3-4).
• Miami remains an undefeated 3-0 in the all-time series with College of Charleston. Both teams will play each other next season in Coral Gables, Fla.
• Anthony Stitt became the 28th player in school history to gain entrance into the 1,000-Career Point Club with his two-pointer at the 4:27 minute mark of the first half. He finished the game with seven points and has now tabulated 1,005 career points to date.
• David Wishon came off the bench and scored a season-high and career-high tying 10 points at Miami. It was his first appearance on the court after missing six consecutive games of the season. He also added five rebounds and one blocked shot in 14 minutes of action.
• Glen Pierre, Jr., contributed six points in reserve including four of the team's season-low 12 first-half points. It was two shy of his career-best scoring performance against Texas A&M in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Nov. 21.
• The Cougars went head-to-head in the rebounding war with the Hurricanes which managed one better, 39-38. It was CofC's third-best rebounding numbers of the season behind 40 against Gardner-Webb and Campbell.
• CofC scored a season-low 40 points and shot a season-low 14.3 percent from three-point range (2-of-14) at Miami. It was the team's lowest production since 38 points versus eventual national champion Louisville on Dec. 4, 2012.
POSTGAME QUOTES
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
“Overall, we didn't have a good night shooting the ball. Defensively, I thought we gave up too many easy shots. We have to do better starting with my staff and me. We have to do a better job of getting these guys to compete for games like this. We have to figure out combinations of guys to put on the floor that are really willing to compete in these kinds of games – which is at a high level. It was a poor performance by us starting with me and we have to go back and find ways to get better.”
On the difference in Miami after watching film of their more recent games …
“They certainly shot the ball better tonight than they did in their previous couple of games. They played with a lot of flow and rhythm tonight. Offensively, they were more aggressive. I didn't see that flow against Eastern Kentucky and Providence. They were more in-tune defensively in this game than they were in the last one.”
On the team's scoring drought in the first half …
“I thought we were getting good shots. When it was 3-0 with eight minutes to go, we had already attempted 14 shots. They were really only two bad shots. I told the guys to take good shots, knock it down and try to get to the paint. I wasn't frustrated in that period, because I thought we were getting good shots and they only had three points, so we were defending. I thought our shots would start to fall. We certainly didn't shoot well from three and didn't get to the free-throw line enough.”
College of Charleston Senior Guard Anthony Stitt
On the year the team has gone through and recently with the passing of Chad Cooke …
“We just tried to stay together. We wanted to come out here and try to make a statement with this game. We definitely didn't do a good job of that. We just got out-toughed by Miami from the beginning. We always preach that you have to start the beginning of the game and the beginning of the half with a lot of energy and toughness. They were making those toughness plays and it led throughout the game. We have to do a way better job of that going forward.”
On when the shots aren't falling and how it effects the team outlook …
“We have been in games before, where our shots haven't fallen. We just need to know our identity and our identity is the defense. That's what Coach (Grant) brings and preaches to us every day in practice – defense, toughness and rebounding. When you are not doing that and you are worrying about shots, you don't know your identity and I think that's when the game gets away from you.”
