What To Make Of Miami's Lost To Kentucky Tuesday Night

Breaking Down Miami's 95-73 Loss And What It Means Going Forward

Article photo of Norchad Omier; credit to Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports.

Heading into the half, Miami was showing signs of life that they could hang with the Kentucky Wildcats on the road. Wooga Poplar was having himself a strong first half and the Hurricanes were down just five points.

Unfortunately, the second half is where things got ugly for Miami. The Hurricanes tallied ten turnovers, shot 12.5% from three, and really couldn't do anything to stop a lights-out Kentucky offense led by Reed Sheppard.

Now with a matchup against Notre Dame coming this Saturday and ACC play getting into full-swing in January, just what did this game against Kentucky show that Miami needs to fix?

#1: Become Less Wooga and Norchad Reliant

What stood out last night was just how reliant Miami was on the play of Poplar and Norchad Omier. Omier battled foul trouble all night, which allowed for Kentucky to take advantage in the paint (won the battle 26-10 in the first half).

While Omier was also involved offensively, Miami relied mainly on the play of Poplar, who had a team-high thirteen shots. The problem is not the shot attempts for Poplar, but rather that nobody else outside of Omier and Poplar could really do anything with the ball in their hands.

Matthew Cleveland had just three shot attempts and Nijel Pack made just one of his six on the night. If Miami wants to get back on track to be able to beat UNC and Duke when it's time, they'll need to get the ball moving far more.

#2: Keep The Turnover Battle Closer

It was understood that going on the road to a place like Rupp Arena would cause challenges for the Hurricanes, as every mistake would be amplified by the opposing crowd.

However, the turnover differential became a problem, which played a part in Kentucky's dominance in fast break points (23-7). Pack had a 1:1 turnover-to-assist ratio, while Omier turned the ball over three times with no assists.

Obviously, Miami can't win the turnover battle every game, but they had nearly double the amount Kentucky had on the night. While there were other aspects the made the difference, Miami's carelessness with the ball played a factor in the result.

As mentioned previously, Miami needs to keep the ball moving more and trust that Bensley Joseph and Pack can overcome their turnovers.

#3: Experiment With Difference Lineups

While there is a method to the success that Miami has had over the last couple of seasons with Jim Larrañaga, there are definitely some lineup pairings that would be interesting to see get some run together this season.

First and foremost, playing one of the bench bigs next to Omier could be very beneficial to Miami defensively and even change things up offensively. Omier and freshman Michael Nwoko is a pairing that could be very intriguing with the growing ability of Omier's outside shot. Nwoko's presence would allow Omier to not worry about foul trouble defensively.

Especially with some lower-level competition still left on the schedule, Miami has the chance to experiment with these different lineup variations before the season goes much further.

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