NEW YORK — It wasn’t always pretty, but Miami never trailed in Madison Square Garden and stormed past the St. John’s Red Storm, 70-56.

Leading scorer Jack McClinton totaled 24 points and five three-pointers, the last of which from three feet behind the NBA line which remained on the court from the previous night’s Knicks game.

The Hurricanes had three players in double figures, as center Dwayne Collins scored 16, and freshman Julian Gamble had a career-high 10 points against the team’s former Big East rival, despite not scoring for the first five minutes of the second half.

St. John’s (9-3) was lead by Quincy Roberts, who scored 14 points and lead all players with nine rebounds.

Miami (8-3, 0-1) now returns to the Sunshine State to prepare for the Ospreys of North Florida (2-8) on New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on FSN-Florida.