Miami basketball falls to No. 21 Iowa State 73-56 in first loss of the season

Before the start of the season, Head Coach Jim Larrañaga said that the team was raw. It showed on Black Friday as the Hurricanes committed 19 turnovers in a 73-56 loss to the No. 21 Iowa State Cyclones in the semifinals of the AdvoCare Invitational.

After a competitive first half that had the two teams neck-and-neck, Miami (4-1) went flat on both ends in the second half, going scoreless for a six-minute stretch and getting outscored 38-27 in the period.

The Canes cut the deficit to two at the 13:53 mark of the second half with a layup from freshman guard Bruce Brown, but that would be the closest the team would get. The Cyclones (5-0) went on a 10-0 run from that point, and the Canes would not recover.

The Hurricanes struggled shooting from deep, which made all the difference offensively. Miami shot a measly 13 percent from three-point territory, while Iowa State shot 42 percent from long range.

Iowa State’s leading scorer Monte Morris was in foul trouble for the majority of the contest and only scored six points, but Miami could not take advantage, instead allowing guard Deonte Burton to score 21 points on 50 percent shooting.

A bright spot for the Canes was junior guard Ja’Quan Newton, who continues to show his growth as a player. Newton put up 21 points on 9-13 shooting, his second straight 20-plus point performance.