Miami was able to beat Syracuse at home last night 82-78. The Canes were able to overcome a subpar defensive performance and a rough shooting night from Isaiah Wong in order to win. Here’s my 3 takeaways from the game.

Offense Did Alright Against the Zone

When Miami got the ball to the high post, Jordan Miller was able to drive to the basket or make plays for others. Miller finished with 13 points and 7 assists.

Nijel Pack had great success from 3PT range going 5 for 9 from deep.  Pack was able to hit some deep shots that extended the Syracuse 2-3 zone.

Miami also had 15 points off of 16 offensive rebounds.  One of the downfalls of playing a zone is you are susceptible to offensive rebounds. Jordan Miller and Norchad Omier combined for 12 offensive rebounds. 

Harlond Beverly had himself another big offensive game. Beverly finished the game with 16 points. Offensively, Beverly did a great job cutting to the basket and finishing in transition. 

Were there still moments where Miami struggled offensively? Yes, but you have to take scoring 82 points with your best player going 1-8 from the field.

Defense was Inconsistent

Miami has stretches where they look very impressive defensively, but they also have a number of head scratching moments as well.  

Defensively, Miami has a very rough time sticking with Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards. Edwards was able to score a number of times from diving/rolling to the basket and from grabbing offensive rebounds. Edwards finished with a career high 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Joe Girard also gave Miami a lot of problems on defense.  Girard took advantage of a smaller Nijel Pack guarding him by backing him down and scoring in the mid-range.  Joe Girard finished the game with 21 points.

Harlond Beverly is Finding His Role

Harlond Beverly once again had a great game. Offensively, Beverly played well but he was also very good on defense. Beverly switched onto Joe Girard towards the end of the game and did a pretty good job.

In the last three games Harlond has seen his minutes go up to an average of 22 MPG. In those 3 games he is averaging 12 points and 1.7 steals. If Beverly can keep this up it would add great depth to this squad.

Miami plays Duke at Cameron Indoor next Saturday at 12:00 PM ET.