Norchad Omier passes milestone, Miami cruises past North Florida

Field Level Media|published: Fri 29th December, 20:24 2023

Dec 29, 2023; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes forward Norchad Omier (15) protects the basketball from North Florida Ospreys guard Jasai Miles (0) during the first half at Watsco Center. credits: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Norchad Omier scored a season-high 27 points to surpass the 1,500-point mark for his career and lead Miami to a 95-55 victory over North Florida on Friday night in Coral Gables, Fla.

Omier raised his career scoring total to 1,506 points and also hauled in 10 rebounds for 57th double-double of his career as the Hurricanes (10-2) ran their winning streak to three games before a return to Atlantic Coast Conference play Wednesday against Clemson.

Matthew Cleveland posted his 15th career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Bensley Joseph added 11 points and handed out 10 assists for his first career double-double.

Sophomore Christian Watson with a career-high 14 points and Kyshawn George with 10 also were in double figures for the Hurricanes.

Chaz Lanier led North Florida (7-8) with 12 points as the only Osprey in double figures.

The nation's leader in 3-point attempts entering the game with an average of 35.2 per game, the Ospreys launched 45 against Miami but made only 10 (22.2 percent). They finished shooting only 27.4 percent overall while the Hurricanes were 36 of 69 from the field (52.2 percent)

The Hurricanes stretched a 15-point halftime lead to 27 points, 59-32, in the first five minutes of the second half and enjoyed a double-digit cushion the rest of the way. Their biggest lead was 43 points, 95-52, with 50 seconds left in regulation.

Miami played without starting guard Nijel Pack, who missed his second straight game with a lower extremity injury. Leading scorer Wooga Poplar (17.5 ppg) played only 15 minutes, leaving the game early in the second half after sustaining a second ankle injury.

Poplar finished with a season-low two points, only the second time in 12 games this season that he has failed to reach double-digits in scoring. His previous low was nine points in Miami's opening conference win over Notre Dame on Dec. 2.

Lanier canned a 3-pointer for North Florida to open the game, but the Hurricanes ran off the next 13 points to assume a 10-point lead until Jah Nze hit another 3-pointer to break the Ospreys' 0-of-6 shooting drought.

The Hurricanes missed their last six shots of the first half but still went into the break up 42-27. The Ospreys were 7 of 27 from 3-point range (25.9 percent) but only 2 of 9 from inside the arc. The Hurricanes were 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) from the floor in the first half, including 3 of 10 from long range.

—Field Level Media