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Doing Good In The Neighborhood

Miami Athletics captured first place in the annual NCAA Team Works Community Service Competition powered by Helper Helper, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

Miami earned the Division I award, with 100 percent of its 450-plus student-athletes participating in at least one community service activity. Pittsburgh and North Dakota finished second and third, respectively. This is the second time Miami has captured the NCAA Team Works Community Service Competition – the Hurricanes also took top honors in 2018.

“I am incredibly proud of our student-athletes and our student-athlete development staff for working together to win the NCAA Team Works Community Service Competition for the second time in four years,” Vice President/Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich said. “It speaks to the culture of service that lives here at UM, which our student-athletes have continually taken to heart.”

NCAA Team Works, which coordinates community service efforts at NCAA championships, and Helper Helper, a volunteer management and tracking platform, launched the community service competition to recognize student-athletes and schools who give back to their communities. This was the 10th year of the competition, which ran September 1 through December 15, 2022, and is based on the number of service hours completed and the number of participating student-athletes. Helper Helper tracks the school participation data throughout the competition.

Miami’s community service efforts during the 2022 Challenge included its Pen Pal program matching 86 student-athletes with students at local elementary schools; a Day of Giving when the football team delivered Thanksgiving meals to the Miami-Dade Foster and Adoptive Parent Association; an Operation Christmas Child drive for gifts to send to children in need overseas; and the swimming team giving free lessons for children at the South Miami Community Center.

“I am beyond proud of the work we have put into community service and student-athlete engagement here at the University of Miami,” said Shirelle Jackson, Executive Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development. “I am thrilled for our student-athletes, the communities we serve and our Canes Connect team. Our student-athletes continue to be receptive to our outreach opportunities, which has had an incredible impact on both our student-athletes and our surrounding communities.”

For schools that opted into the challenge, their total service hours were 218,594 hours, more than double last year’s total. The estimated economic impact of those service hours was $6.5 million, based on the calculation by the organization Independent Sector of the national value of a volunteer hour.

Duke Holds On To Beat Miami By Two

The University of Miami men's basketball team fell by two at Duke, 68-66, Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Fifth-year senior guard Jordan Miller registered a game-high 19 points, including 13 in the second half, for No. 17/16 Miami (15-4, 6-3 ACC) in its first defeat against the Blue Devils in league play in exactly three years.

The Hurricanes used a late 12-3 run, including a fourth 3-pointer in five attempts by third-year sophomore guard Nijel Pack to retake the lead, to grab a 36-32 edge with 3:13 on the first-half clock. Duke (14-5, 5-3 ACC) hit two 3-pointers in the closing two minutes, sandwiched around a Miami basket, and the teams went into the locker room even at 38 apiece.

Miami shot 5-of-9 from 3-point range, including hitting five of its first seven attempts, and 9-of-10 at the line in the opening 20 minutes, while the Blue Devils went 5-of-11 and 3-of-7, respectively.

Coming out of the break, an early 8-2 personal surge by Miller put the Hurricanes ahead by two. However, Duke used a 10-0 run in 4:28, started with two shot-clock-beating 3-pointers, to go up by eight, 55-47, with 11:48 to play.

Miami, buoyed by a trio of 3-pointers and a three-point play, closed within one, 64-63, with 2:54 remaining. Despite holding Duke to 2-of-16 down the stretch, including zero field goals in the final five-plus minutes, the Hurricanes could not level the score or regain the lead, as the Blue Devils held on for the home win.

The Hurricanes finished the day shooting just 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the floor, but their 47.6 percent (10-of-21) ledger from 3-point range and 80.0 percent (12-of-15) total from the line kept them in it throughout. Miami, which had just six giveaways, also posted an 8-2 edge in points off turnovers and an 11-0 tally in fast-break points, but Duke logged a 26-11 margin in bench points.

Miami continues play Tuesday at 7 p.m., when it squares off with Florida State at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla., live on ESPNU.

Too Many Turnovers

The University of Miami men’s basketball team rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to take a four-point lead Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena, but dropped an 83-81 overtime decision against NC State.

Fourth-year junior guard Isaiah Wong paced No. 16/15 Miami (14-3, 5-2 ACC) with a game-high 25 points, including 18 after halftime.

“I thought that was a very entertaining college game. Both teams played very hard and, I’d say, very well, for the most part. It comes down to the overtime,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “We just had too many turnovers for the game. We only have five assists with 17 turnovers. I would prefer the opposite.”

After the teams played evenly through 15-and-a-half minutes, NC State (14-4, 4-3 ACC) closed the frame on a 14-4 run to take a 42-32 lead into the locker room. Miami shot 56.0 percent (14-of-25) before the break, including start 10-of-15, but committed nine turnovers and forced just three.

The Hurricanes opened the second frame on an 8-0 run to pull within two, 42-40, with 17:43 to go. NC State countered with an 11-2 burst to go back ahead by nine, 53-44, just 2:20 later, but Miami answered right back with an 19-6 surge to go in front by four, 63-59, with 8:20 remaining.

The Wolfpack retook the edge, 65-64, exactly four minutes later after a 6-1 run, but Miami scored four points in a row to go up, 68-65, with 3:46 on the clock. NC State answered again, this time with an 8-2 burst to go up, 73-70, with 55 ticks left. Miami fifth-year senior guard Jordan Miller then drilled a game-tying 3-pointer with 27 seconds to go and the Hurricanes got a stop at the other end to force overtime.

Miami took an 81-78 edge with 2:13 on the overtime ticker, but NC State scored the next five points to go ahead by one, 82-81, with 30 seconds to go and added a free throw 18 seconds later to double the advantage. It then forced a turnover at the other end to claim the home win.