Mike James scored 26 points and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield added 22 as Louisville shocked host Miami 80-71 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Wednesday night.
Louisville, which went 4-28 last season, snapped a three-game losing streak by finishing the game on a 9-0 run. The Cardinals (6-9, 1-3) had lost seven straight games to ACC opponents.
Miami (11-4, 2-2), which went to the Final Four last season, lost its second straight game and fell to 9-1 at home. The Hurricanes were held scoreless for the final 3:28.
The Hurricanes were led by Matthew Cleveland, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Wooga Poplar, who had missed two straight games due to an ankle injury, had 18 points.
The Cardinals, down to just seven healthy scholarship players due to injuries to Tre White, Dennis Evans, JJ Traynor and Emmanuel Okorafor, gave junior guard Hercy Miller his first career start. Miller did not score.
James shot 8-for-12 from the field, including 5-for-6 on 3-pointers. In the game’s first eight minutes, he scored 16 of the Cardinals’ first 18 points for an 18-10 lead.
Miami responded with an 8-0 run as James cooled off with three straight misses. By halftime, Miami led 41-37.
James led all first-half scorers with 17 points, while Poplar had 13. Louisville shot 48.3 percent in the first half, including 6 of 12 on 3-pointers. Miami, which had a 14-8 advantage on paint points, shot 51.6 percent, including 8 of 18 from deep (44.4 percent).
Louisville started the second half by tying the score at 43-43. But Miami went on an 8-0 run that included the first six points by Cleveland on a dunk, a layup and two free throws.
But the Cardinals battled back to take a 66-61 lead on a Skyy Clark 3-pointer with 7:48 remaining and held on from there.
For the game, Louisville shot 49.1 percent from the floor, while Miami made just 38.8 percent.
–Field Level Media
