CORAL GABLES, Fla. –University of Miami men’s basketball senior Matthew Cleveland scored a career-high 32 points as the Hurricanes (6-18, 2-11 ACC) recorded their second conference win of the season with a 91-84 victory over the Syracuse Orange (11-14, 5-9 ACC) Tuesday night at the Watsco Center.
Cleveland led all scorers in the game with 32 points, marking his ACC-leading third 30-point outing of the season.
Freshman Jalil Bethea scored a new career high with 21 points, while sophomore Paul Djobet tied his career high with 13 points.
The Hurricanes came out firing to start the game, shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the first half. Five different Miami players scored five-plus points in the first 20 minutes, paced by Cleveland, who tallied 15 first-half points.
The Orange regrouped at halftime and made six of their first eight second-half shots to retake the 54-52 lead at the 13:32 mark. Miami responded with a 6-0 run to pull ahead by four points, 58-54, but the lead quickly evaporated as Syracuse put together a 7-0 run of its own to go ahead, 61-58, with 9:26 to play in the game.
The Hurricanes knocked down four 3-pointers over the next four minutes to take a 72-66 lead with five minutes left in the game. Miami led by as much as nine in the game's final five minutes, but Syracuse would not go away, cutting the Orange’s deficit to five, 84-79, with 50 seconds to play.
The final minute featured 12 combined free throw attempts, but the Hurricanes held on to secure their second ACC win.
Miami will travel north to Pittsburgh on Saturday to face the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game will air on ESPN2 at noon, and tipoff will be at the Petersen Events Center.
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
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