Isaiah Wong scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second half to lead Miami to a 69-63 win over North Texas in the consolation round of the ESPN Events Invitational on Friday afternoon in Kissimmee, Fla.
Miami (4-2) rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to avoid what would’ve been its third loss this season to a mid-major team, with UCF and Dayton knocking off the Hurricanes earlier.
The Hurricanes also got 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds from Kameron McGusty and 16 points from Charlie Moore. McGusty made 10 of 11 free throws and added three steals.
Miami shot 54.2 percent from the floor for the game, including 4-of-12 on 3-pointers.
North Texas (2-3), which lost its second straight game in this tournament, was led by Thomas Bell’s 18 points.
The Mean Green’s leading scorer, Tylor Perry, who put up 23 points against Kansas on Thursday, was battling a stomach flu on Friday. He was held to 14 points, and he also missed three key free throws in the final three minutes.
UNT’s Rubin Jones added 11 points before fouling out with 14 seconds left.
The Mean Green lost despite making 13 of their 27 3-pointers (48.1 percent). Overall, however, they shot just 44.2 percent.
The first half belonged to North Texas. With the score tied 17-17, the Mean Green went on an 11-0 run.
By halftime, North Texas had a 40-28 lead, shooting 57.7 percent from the field and 52.9 percent (9 of 17) from downtown.
Miami shot well from the floor (50 percent), but the Hurricanes didn’t do much on 3-pointers (1 of 4) in the half.
The Canes started the second half with a 13-3 run, but North Texas broke that momentum a bit with Bell’s fortunate 3-pointer that banked in off glass.
But Miami kept coming and took its first lead of the second half on Moore’s 3-pointer that gave the Canes a 50-48 advantage with 12:16 left.
Then, with the score tied 59-59, McGusty used a screen and a backdoor pass from Sam Waardenburg to make a layup with 2:35 left.
Perry, who had been 17 for 17 from the foul line this season, then missed two free throws, and Wong hit a baseline jumper to give Miami a 63-59 lead with 1:18 left
Miami made its free throws from there to win the game.
–Field Level Media
