Miami put together a big run midway through the second half to take a one-point lead, but they faltered down the stretch as the Orange continued finding ways to win.
The Syracuse Orange remained perfect on Saturday afternoon despite receiving a serious scare from the Miami Hurricanes. The Orange dominated the final five minutes at Bank United Center to pull out a 64-52 win.
Syracuse stormed out to a 26-8 lead midway through the first half, and it seemed like the game would be out of hand by halftime. Miami finally started getting good looks at the basket in the closing minutes, though, and cut the deficit to 31-26 by the break. After the intermission, the Hurricanes went on a 16-7 run to take a one-point lead with just eight minutes to go. Syracuse's perfect run was in serious jeopardy.
That was where the Orange took over again, though. The closing minutes completely belonged to Syracuse, and it seemed like Miami broke down mentally. Tyler Ennis and C.J. Fair hit back-to-back jumpers to put the Orange up 53-49, and a three-pointer from Trevor Cooney with just 2:25 remaining was essentially the nail in the coffin. The Hurricanes had a couple of chances to score down the stretch, but they just couldn't get anything to fall over the length of Cuse's zone.
Fair led the way for Syracuse with 15 points and seven rebounds. Ennis continued to impress with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Cooney had 11 points on a trio of three-pointers and a couple free throws. Davon Reed led the Hurricanes with 17 points. Rion Brown chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.
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