CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Wooga Poplar overcame a slight ankle injury and scored a career-high 25 points as No. 24 Miami beat La Salle 84-77 on Saturday.
Norchad Omier finished with 23 points, and Matthew Cleveland had 14 for the Hurricanes (8-2). Nijel Pack was Miami’s fourth double-figure scorer with 11.
Poplar, who averages a team-leading 15.6 points, landed awkwardly on his left foot after an unsuccessful dunk attempt late in the first half. He limped off the court immediately but returned for layup drills before the second half.
Updated
"Fran Dunphy is one of the great college coaches," head coach Jim Larrañaga said. "It was an honor to coach against him today, and I'm very thankful that we ended up winning. His kids are very resilient. We got up by [18], and not only did they not put their heads down, but they kept fighting...Then we showed some resilience, battling back and making some free throws."
Khalil Brantley scored 23 points, and Daeshon Shepherd added 15 for the Explorers (8-3).
La Salle rallied from an 18-point deficit early in the second half and got within 71-67 on Andres Marrero’s 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining. Miami responded with six unanswered behind two free throws each by Poplar and Omier, along with a layup by Omier.
Miami outscored La Salle 15-7 in the final 6:26 of the first half and led 45-33 at halftime. Omier scored six consecutive points during the run. Two jumpers and a dunk from Poplar in the first 3:03 of the second half increased Miami’s lead to 53-35.
Cleveland scored eight points during a game-opening 21-10 run. Cleveland’s layup with 12:06 remaining in the first half capped the spurt for Miami’s first double-digit lead.
After missing their first seven 3-point attempts, the Explorers got within 30-26 on consecutive deep 3s by Rokas Jucius and Marrero.
BIG PICTURE
La Salle: The Explorers finished 1-3 in non-conference road games. They will return home for three consecutive games before opening their Atlantic 10 road schedule at Fordham on Jan.6.
Miami: After committing 20 turnovers in the 90-63 loss against Colorado on Sunday, the Hurricanes limited their mistakes to three in the first half. They had five in the opening five minutes of the second half and finished with ten miscues.
UP NEXT
La Salle: Hosts Rosemont College on Thursday.
Miami: Hosts Stonehill on Thursday.
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