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CORAL GABLES, Fla. — In its home opener on Friday night, No. 14 Miami (1-1) earned an 83-57 victory over Wagner (0-2) behind a strong closing stretch. The game, which tipped off at 9:00 p.m. ET, presented several storylines for the Hurricanes.
First, Miami's offense started slowly, but its defense remained the anchor, showcasing the unit's potential. Second, the team had to shake off the emotional toll of a narrow loss to No. 1 Florida earlier in the week. Third, the returning players from last season's NCAA Tournament squad showed some rust before finding their rhythm in the second half.
Despite the lopsided final score, head coach Jim Larrañaga was hardly satisfied. "You know, I thought we were bad," Larrañaga said. "I thought we were bad both halves. And it's just for me, you know, the standard we're trying to have here, and then what we want to be and where we want to compete at the level we want to compete at, we're nowhere near."
Miami aimed to set a tone after the Florida loss, but it wasn't until the second half that the team truly flipped the switch. The first half was marred by Shelton Henderson's struggles to find his spots, missed three-pointers from the bench, and a few bright spots—including free-throw shooting and the play of freshman Caleb Gaskins.
"I mean, he's a good kid," Malik Reneau said of Gaskins. "He's always asking questions. He's always willing to do whatever it takes to win and just being in the gym every single day, being in that work is but you can see it. I mean, he's a three-level scorer and he works at it every single day."
With renewed energy, the second half was cleaner and more effective, and the championship-hungry Hurricanes delivered. "I think we pick up our intensity and felt like we started the game and played without intensity," Larrañaga said. "And we came out the second half on and we had it in spurts. We really created a lot of offense when our defense, especially Shelton, getting some of those turnovers and getting out and being able to play fast. We want to play fast, get stops, rebound run, get out and play. And more we can do that, the better we going to be."
Henderson scored just three points in the first half but exploded for 16 in the second, fueled by his defense and transition play. "He eats weights," Wagner head coach Dwan McMillan remarked, and Henderson was indeed unstoppable after the break. The star sophomore, who shot 2-for-13 against Florida, finished with 19 points, five assists, and three steals—a much-needed rebound performance.
The second half also revealed the offensive cohesion Miami had been missing over the first three and a half halves of the season. "I mean, just knew we had to pick it up our defense's offense, and that's our main thing offense is running out, getting transition, getting deflections," Henderson said. "And I think once we do that at a high level, it's going to be hard to stop us."
Miami will next host North Florida on Nov. 9 for another home game.