NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Matthew Cleveland scored 18 points, Nijel Pack added 16, and No. 12 Miami topped Georgia 79-68 on Friday in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship opening round.
Wooga Poplar finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Hurricanes (4-0). Bensley Joseph scored 13 for Miami, and Norchad Omier battled through foul trouble to score 11.
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“I really thought our guys came to play; it was really a 40-minute effort,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “Bensley Joseph had a sensational game, Wooga Poplar had 11 rebounds, and Matt Cleveland was tremendous. Overall, it was a great team effort.”
All five Miami starters scored double figures, paced by junior guard Matthew Cleveland at 18 points (8 of 13). Junior guard Wooga Poplar recorded the first double-double of his career, totaling 13 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hurricanes on the boards.
Pack, Joseph, and Omier joined Cleveland and Poplar in double-digits.
The Hurricanes scored the first five points, but the Bulldogs responded with a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take an eight-point lead at the 11:03 mark in the frame.
Blue Cain scored 18 for Georgia (2-2), Noah Thomasson added 14, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim finished with 13 for the Bulldogs. Georgia fell to 5-22 over the last five years against opponents ranked in the AP Top 25.
But for the first 10 minutes, it sure looked like the Bulldogs had a chance to change that.
After missing his first three 3-point shots, Poplar connected from beyond the arc to spark an 18-3 Miami run in the final five minutes of the first half. Cain had seven points in a 10-0 run that put Georgia up 19-11.
By then, though, Miami had hit its best stride. And Georgia wouldn’t lead again.
Thirteen of Cleveland’s 18 points came in the first half as he went 6-of-9 from the field and hauled four rebounds. The Hurricanes outrebounded the Bulldogs 24-21 in the first 20 minutes.
The Hurricanes outscored Georgia 21-6 in the final 7:25 of the half to take a 39-29 lead into the break, 12 of the points in that run coming unanswered. The lead eventually reached 20 twice in the second half, and Miami’s margin was double figures for the final 18:23.
Miami used a 60.9 percent shooting effort in the second half to extend its lead to as much as 20. Joseph was dominant for the Hurricanes coming out of the locker room, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the field to pour in a team-leading 10 points in the second half.
The Bulldogs steadily chipped away at Miami’s lead, stringing together a 10-4 run to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 10, 73-63, with 2:08 remaining in the game. However, Omier and Pack combined to go 4-for-4 at the charity stripe in the game's final minutes to close out the victory for Miami.
The Hurricanes will face the Kansas State/Providence winner in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship championship game on Sunday. Tipoff in Nassau is set for 2:30 p.m. The game will air on CBS Sports Network.
BIG PICTURE
Georgia: The Bulldogs will be battle-tested when they get into their Southeastern Conference slate of games starting Jan. 6. Georgia is opening the season with four of its first five games against Power 5 schools; four of its first nine games are against ACC schools.
Miami: It’s a 4-0 start for the Hurricanes' second consecutive season. The last time that happened was 2017-18 (10-0) and 2018-19 (5-0), when Miami finished a run of five consecutive seasons starting at least 4-0. The Hurricanes have led for 139 possible minutes (160 minutes) this season while trailing for only 15 minutes.
Megan Barnes of Miami Athletics contributed to this report
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