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Miami puts clamps on San Diego in second half

Nov 25, 2008 - 6:47 AM ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (Ticker) -- While Miami had its choice of numerous scorers, San Diego could not find anyone to make a basket after the half.

Brian Asbury led four players in double figures with 14 points as No. 21 Miami captured an 80-45 victory over San Diego in Monday's third-place game of the Paradise Jam.

Despite the lopsided final score, the contest was a close contest until the second half when the Toreros mustered just 15 points while shooting 23 percent (6-of-26) from the field.

Miami (3-1) had just a 40-35 edge with just under 18 minutes remaining after Gyno Pomare hit a jumper. That would be San Diego's last field goal until there was just 8:40 left.

In the meanwhile, the Hurricanes went on a 20-0 run, pulling ahead 60-35 when Cyrus McGowan capped it on a layup with 9:13 to play. Lance Hurdle contributed seven points and Jimmy Graham six during the decisive span.

Overall, Miami held San Diego to 33 percent (17-of-52) from the field on the way to limiting an opponent to its lowest output since a 62-38 win over Clemson on January 18, 2006.

"That was just a good, old-fashioned rear-end-kicking," Toreros coach Bill Grier told the Miami Herald. "We knew they were athletic and had talented guards that could really shoot the ball. ... I thought (Jack McClinton) and (Dwayne) Collins are what really made them go. We just did a poor job on everyone else."

Graham finished with 11 points and Hurdle and McGowan ended up with 10 each for Miami, which did struggle from deep, going 5-of-18 (28 percent) on 3-pointers.

McClinton, the leading scorer, had a major hand in the Hurricanes' woes from long range, making just one of six 3-point attempts. He finished with just nine points - well below his average of 19.3 coming in.

Yet, it did not matter much as Miami got 38 points from its bench.

"There are going to be nights when other guys just dog Jack, and he's going to have a tough time," Hurricanes coach Frank Haith told the Herald. "But the more we get the production out of guys, the less that's going to happen. We have other guys that can score. That's the next step for this team in terms of growth."

Chris Lewis had 11 points for the Toreros (2-3), who failed to crack 50 points for the second straight game after losing to Wisconsin, 64-49, in the semifinals on Sunday.