Miami Hurricanes Beat Fairleigh Dickinson With a Big Kidd
There is a new Kidd in town for the University of Miami and he is looking good.
Center Lynn Kidd, a transfer from Virginia Tech, led the Hurricanes with 24 points and 9 rebounds as Miami won their 2024-2025 season opener 113-72 over the Farleigh Dickinson Knights Monday night at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables.
"I am hoping he will play that all year long," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said after the game. "He's not going to always get the ball that easily. The court was wide open for him, but he's very efficient inside. We're very pleased with his performance, but we need a much larger sample size to see how teams will defend him."
The 113 points scored was the most Miami scored since 1989.
Kidd did not miss a bucket until the 15:38 mark of the second half. He was 10-of-11 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line.
Kidd was one of 11 new players for Jim Larranaga whose roster features six transfers.
Nigel Pack followed Kidd with 21 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists. He hit a triple late in the game to ignite an 11-2 Miami run. He had a runner in the lane with 5:25 to play and drew the foul.
Pack said he expected this from Kidd.
"He has been surprising me, actually, shocking me," Pack said. "I knew who he was, especially playing against Virginia Tech, but I have seen his game go to another level since he's been here with us......Every time I give him the ball, its basically an automatic bucket,"
Jalen Blackmon, a transfer from Stetson impressed in his first action as a member of the Hurricanes. He added 15 points for Miami.
Miami started the game on a 12-3 run only 4:14 into the game. Kidd had ten points on 4-of-4 shooting before you could blink an eye. Matthew Cleveland returned from a nagging injury and started for Miami on the wing.
Cleveland was on the receiving end of an alley-oop from Pack which brought the house down with 13:43 remaining in the half. It was transition basketball at its finest.
Cleveland had a dunk on the next sequence after a Miami steal and the Canes ran the lead to 23-8. They were 10-of-11 from the field as FDU committed four turnovers in 2:45 to help the Canes build their lead. Cleveland finished with 9 points in 20 minutes of action.
Miami then continued on a 7-0 run over the next 1:11 to extend their lead to 35-13 with 7:56 to play in the half.
Kidd would then go on the receiving end of an alley-oop from Pack with 6:46 remaining. Kidd then followed up the jam with a left-handed hook. Miami scored 22 points off of FDU turnovers which assisted in its transition game.
Jalil Bethea scored his first collegiate basket on a 12-foot fadeaway with 12:01 to play in the game. He finished the game with 9 points.
FDU's Dylan Jones was 5-of-10 from behind the ark. He led the Knights with 15 points. He did not make a two-point attempt the entire night.
Miami shot the lights out in the first half by hitting on 70.6 percent of their attempts in the first half. They finished the game shooting 67 percent from the field.
FDU coach Jack Castleberry was impressed with Miami and their ability to shoot the ball.
"They can really shoot the basketball one through four, and then [Kidd] at the five spot, having that touch around the rim is pretty incredible," Castleberry said. "Basketball is about making shots at the end of the day, and they do that at such a high clip."
Miami continues its non-conference slate on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at home against Binghamton.
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Scott Salomon joined On SI in April 2024 covering breaking news and analysis for the Miami Dolphins site, and has since contributed to the Miami Heat, Back in the Day NBA, Miami Hurricanes and San Antonio Spurs sites. Scott is based in South Florida and has been covering the local and national sports scene for 35 years. He's covered and has been credentialed for the Super Bowl, the NFL Combine, various Orange Bowls and college football championship games. Scott was also credentialed for the NBA All-Star game and covered the Miami Heat during their first six seasons for USA TODAY. Scott is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Communication and the St. Thomas University School of Law. Scott has two sons and his hobbies include watching sports on television and binge watching shows on various streaming services.