No. 8 Miami no match for No. 12 Kentucky in 95-73 loss

The No. 8 Miami Hurricanes were no match for the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats in a 95-73 loss at Rupp Arena in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Tuesday night.

"Credit to Kentucky, they were explosive," head coach Jim Larranaga said.

Norchad Omier scored 20 points in 19 minutes before fouling out and Wooga Poplar added 19 points for the Hurricanes, who entered with their highest ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll in six years.

Miami (5-1) shot 44.1 percent (26 of 59) from the field and the nation's top 3-point shooting team was held to just 26.3 percent (5 of 19). Their 15 turnovers led to 16 points.

"We played totally out of character on offense and that impacted our defense," Larranaga said.

Kentucky (6-1) shot 59.7 percent (37 of 62) overall and 66.7 percent (2o of 3o) in the second half as they led by as many as 29 despite playing without starting point guard D.J. Wagner, who was injured in the first half. The Wildcats were led by freshman reserve Reed Sheppard 's 21 points while Antonio Reeves scored 18 as five players scored in double-figures.

"We just couldn't guard them," Larranaga said.

The 59.7 shooting allowed was the highest by a Miami opponent since Maryland shot 60 percent on Nov. 20, 2022. It was the 11th time since 2010 a Miami opponent has shot at least 58 percent in a game and the Hurricanes are 0-11 in those games.

All five of Miami's starters entered the game averaging in double figures, but only Poplar and Omier reached that mark against the Wildcats. Matthew Cleveland , who entered as the the team's second-leading scorer at 16.8 points per game, was held to five points. Nijel Pack , who was coming off a 28-point game and averaging 16 a contest, was held to two points on 1-of-6 shooting and Bensley Joseph , who was averaging 11.6, scored just four.

After scoring the final eight points of the first half, the Wildcats started hot in the second half scoring 12 of the first 14 points as their 20-2 run put them in front 54-39.

Moments later, the deficit was 20 following a layup by Reeves.

The rest of the second half did not get any better for the Hurricanes who trailed by at least 20 in the final 15 minutes of the game.

Kentucky outscored Miami 48-32 in points in the paint.

Kentucky jumped out to a 21-11 lead behind an 11-1 run, but the Hurricanes stormed back after a timeout.

First, it was Kyshawn George hitting a 3. Moments later, Christian Watson , Omier and Cleveland each hit 3s in an 83-second span in what would be Miami's only four 3s of the games. Omier’s dunk put Miami ahead 29-23 as the Hurricanes reeled off 13 unanswered as part of an 18-2 run.

The 13-0 run was Miami’s eighth run of at least 10 points this season and the first time Kentucky had allowed a run of at least 10 points.

After a putback by Poplar to give him 13 points for the half, the Wildcats scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 42-37 lead into the break.

UP NEXT

Miami hosts Notre Dame in their first Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday (12:00 p.m., CW).

Christopher Stock has covered the Miami Hurricanes since 2003 and can be reached by e-mail at and on Twitter .