Miami crushes Stonehill from start to finish

Wooga Poplar led all scorers with 24 points and Norchad Omier had a double-double by halftime, finishing with 20 points and 17 rebounds, as Miami crushed Stonehill 97-59 Thursday night in Coral Gables, Fla.

Omier tallied 14 points and 11 rebounds in the first half for his fifth double-double of the season, while Poplar fueled a balanced Miami attack with five 3-pointers.

Matthew Cleveland scored 15 points and Kyshawn George and Bensley Joseph chipped in 12 apiece as the Hurricanes (9-2) capitalized on unselfish play to stay unbeaten at home (7-0).

The Skyhawks (2-12) were playing their 10th road game, and this one ended like the previous nine despite Tony Felder Jr.'s 22 points and 16 points from Se'yphon Triplett.

Stonehill's hopes for an upset win were dashed quickly as Miami opened the game on an 8-0 run.

Felder's 3-pointer ended the cold start, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Poplar and Cleveland stretched the Hurricanes' lead to 14-3 with 16:51 left.

The Hurricanes came in top five in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (42.3 percent) and that hot touch was on display against the Skyhawks.

They made 15 long-distance shots, including nine in the first half to overwhelm the Skyhawks, a second-year Division I team.

Two of those shots came from George, who drilled two deep 3-pointers 41 seconds apart to extend the Miami advantage to 26-7 with 12:19 to go.

Miami's lead hit 30 at 39-9 with 7:33 to play in the half as Poplar knocked down a 3-pointer near the green portion of the U logo on the floor.

Stonehill finally reached double digits with 7:20 to play on a layup and free throw from Max Zegarowski, making the score 39-11, but the Hurricanes rolled into halftime with a 54-25 cushion.