SMU shoots nearly 70 percent, demolishes Miami 117-74

Field Level Media|published: Sat 18th January, 16:22 2025

Jan 18, 2025; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Southern Methodist Mustangs guard Boopie Miller (2) drives to the basket past Miami Hurricanes guard Paul Djobet (10) during the first half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Boopie Miller scored 18 points and dished out a game-high 10 assists as SMU hammered host Miami 117-74 in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon.

SMU shot a blistering 69.2 percent from the floor (45 of 65) and 56 percent from 3-point range (14 of 25).

Miami's Matthew Cleveland scored 25 of his game-high and season-best 31 points in the second half. No other Hurricanes player reached double figures in points.

Matt Cross, who started his college career at Miami, scored 17 for the Mustangs, who had seven players score 10 or more points.

SMU (14-4, 5-2), which led by as many as 38 in the first half, has won three straight and 10 of its last 12.

Miami (4-14, 0-7) has dropped seven straight and 14 of its past 15.

The Hurricanes, who shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26 of 56) and 28.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (4 of 14), have lost 16 straight regular-season ACC games.

The Hurricanes are the only ACC team without a conference win this season.

Miami played its seventh straight game without starting point guard and leading scorer Nijel Pack (ankle). Backup point guard Divine Ugochukwu returned after missing two games due to a left hip injury and scored seven points.

SMU led 9-7 before posting a 21-4 run. The visitors kept rolling from there, leading 60-26 at halftime.

In the first half, SMU shot 76.5 percent (26 of 34) from the floor and 63.6 percent (7 of 11) on 3-pointers. SMU also had a 19-4 rebounding advantage and outscored Miami 34-8 in the paint.

The second half was more of the same as SMU produced its first 30-plus-point win since defeating Prairie View A&M 110-69 on Nov. 18.

The Mustangs had advantages in every major category, including paint points (58-32), rebounds (36-18) and fastbreak points (22-11).

--Field Level Media