No. 8 Miami spreads offense around in win over Notre Dame

Field Level Media|published: Sat 2nd December, 14:19 2023

Nov 28, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Miami (Fl) Hurricanes forward Norchad Omier (15) shoots a free throw during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. credits: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Norchad Omier scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the eighth-ranked Miami Hurricanes defeated the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish 62-49 on Saturday afternoon in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

Miami (6-1) also got a team-high 14 points and a game-high four steals from Matthew Cleveland and 13 points and a game-high seven assists from Nijel Pack.

Notre Dame (3-4), which has lost two straight games, was led by J.R. Konieczny, who had a team-high 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. The rest of the team shot just 2-for-25 from deep.

Tae Davis added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds for the Irish.

Freshman point guard Markus Burton, who entered the game as Notre Dame's leading scorer (16.3), was held to six points. He did, however, dish a team-high six assists.

The Hurricanes now lead this tightly contested series, 14-13.

In the first half, Notre Dame raced to a 12-7 lead. But Miami scored the next seven points and never trailed again. Miami eventually stretched its advantage to 31-20 on Wooga Poplar's drive to the hoop with 3:39 remaining before halftime.

Miami took a 33-26 lead into the break as Burton in-bounded the ball with one second left and found Davis cutting to the basket for a layup.

For the half, Miami shot 48.1 percent from the floor and 5-of-10 on 3-pointers. Notre Dame shot just 28.1 percent overall and 4-of-18 on 3-pointers (22.2 percent). Miami also had an 8-0 edge on fast-break points.

But the Irish stayed in the game due to a 7-2 advantage on offensive rebounds.

Burton had just two points in the opening half, making 1 of 5 shots.

Early in the second half, a 6-0 Miami run that included a spectacular fast-break dunk by Poplar gave the Hurricanes a 45-34 lead.

Then, with 1:46 left in the second half, a Cleveland fast-break layup gave Miami its' largest lead, 62-49, and that essentially put the Irish away.

For the game, Miami shot 46.3 overall and 7-for-18 on 3-pointers (38.9 percent).

Notre Dame shot just 28.6 percent overall and 6-for-32 on 3-pointers (18.8 percent).

A bright spot for the Irish was their 15-6 edge on the offensive boards.

—Field Level Media