Syracuse Orange at Miami Hurricanes

No. 13 Miami pulls away late to beat Syracuse 64-51

It stung the Orange then, and hurts even more now.

Sheldon McClellan scored 22 points, Newton made two big 3-pointers in the second half to kick start a Miami offense that was dreadful for most of the game, and the 13th-ranked Hurricanes pulled away late to beat Syracuse 64-51 on Saturday.

Newton finished with 14 points for Miami (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won its seventh straight despite missing its first 16 tries from 3-point range. Newton was 2 for 2 from beyond the arc, while his teammates were a combined 1 for 23.

"The whole game, they were playing off me," said Newton, who pulled a groin muscle in the final minutes. "I noticed it in the first half. ... They were a big two 3's, the biggest two 3's of the game, probably."

Not probably. There's no doubt.

"The difference in the game," Syracuse interim coach Mike Hopkins said of Newton's 3-pointers. "Got to give him a lot of credit."

Both of Newton's 3's gave Miami the lead, the second one putting the Hurricanes on top for good and starting a 12-0 run that would give them a 56-44 edge with 2:46 left.

Malachi Richardson scored 20 points for Syracuse (10-5, 0-2), which has dropped its first two league games for the first time since it started the 1998-99 Big East season 0-2.

Michael Gbinije added 10 points for the Orange, who were outscored 47-26 in the second half.

"Second tough road game that our kids played in and they gave a great effort," Hopkins said. "They really executed defensively."

"Players respond to challenges one of two ways," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "Either they start thinking negatively ... or they respond positively and start to dig down deeper defensively."

TIP-INS

Miami: The Hurricanes improved to 4-8 in their ACC openers. ... It was the second straight slow start for Miami, which had 27 first-half points against Princeton. Until Saturday, that was Miami's season-low for a half. ... Miami improved to 7-1 at home. ... The Hurricanes got to the line 34 times, compared with 14 for the Orange.

ODD CONSISTENCY

Syracuse shot 9 for 28 in the first half, and shot exactly that again in the second half. Miami, after a 5 for 27 start to the game, finished by making 13 of its last 25 attempts. "That 2/3 zone is really annoying," McClellan said.

ORANGE EVERYWHERE

UP NEXT

Syracuse: Hosts Clemson on Tuesday.

Miami: Hosts Florida State on Jan. 9.

How can I watch Syracuse vs. Miami?

• TV Channel: Syracuse at Miami 2021 College Basketball, week 8, is broadcasted on ESPN3.
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