• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Asbury helps Miami rout Stetson

Dec 18, 2007 - 6:01 AM CORAL GABLES, Florida (Ticker) -- Ranked for the first time in nearly six years, Miami continued its surprising start to the season.

Brian Asbury had a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds and Raymond Hicks added a season-high 15 points as the 22nd-ranked Hurricanes pounded Stetson, 89-53, on Monday.

James Dews scored 14 points, making 4-of-6 shots from the arc for the Hurricanes (10-0), who are off to their best start since winning their first 14 games during the 2001-02 season.

"We had a lot of guys contribute tonight," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "I thought we did a nice job defensively. We got the ball inside quite a bit so our paint production was good. All in all, it was a good game for us and I thought we handled ourselves well tonight."

Picked to finish last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the preseason media poll, the Hurricanes are ranked for the first time since climbing to No. 21 on March 10, 2002.

"That is good attention I guess," Haith said. "I'm excited for these guys and I'm excited for our coaches who worked their tails off to get us to this point. A lot of credit needs to go to our coaches and players and how hard they've worked."

Miami wasted no time in jumping on lowly Stetson, cruising to their second-biggest margin of victory this season.

Asbury made his first four shots from the field and scored nine points as Miami took a 23-6 lead with 11:12 left in the first half.

The Hurricanes, who shot 57 percent (17-of-30) in the first half, led by as many as 21 before the break and held a 42-25 advantage at intermission.

Miami then went on a 12-3 spurt after halftime to take a 54-28 bulge early in the second half, and the Hurricanes took their largest lead of the game at 82-44 with 4:15 to play in the contest.

Miami's pair of forwards, Asbury and Hicks, combined to shoot 12-of-16 from the floor, while guard Jack McClinton scored 12 points and center Dwayne Collins added 10 to round out five players in double figures for the Hurricanes.

"It feels good to know that we won as a basketball team," Hicks said. "Each and every one of us has something that we can bring to the table. We tried to go out there tonight, bring our best effort and try to get better."

Eric Diaz scored 13 points to lead the Hatters (2-8), who were playing in their first game since December 3. Stetson shot just 32 percent (19-of-60) from the field and lost its fourth straight game overall.