The opening to the Jai Lucas era of Miami men’s basketball started slow, but broke free in the final minutes as the Hurricanes took down the Jacksonville Dolphins 86-69 Monday night at the Watsco Center.
As the more talented team, Miami displayed flashes of dominance early on, forcing deep threes by Jacksonville and powering through the Dolphins on fast breaks in the paint.
But JU didn’t falter, as back-to-back offensive blunders by the Hurricanes led to two three-pointers in return, setting the Dolphins up 9-6.
The first half progressed much the same, with Miami fighting for points in the paint, but occasionally turning the ball over and Jacksonville capitalizing with threes and points in transition.