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Matthew Cleveland Drops 32 as Miami Hurricanes Defeat Syracuse, 91-84

On3 imageby:Matt Shodell•about 23 hours•

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NCAA Basketball: Syracuse at Miami (FL)
Feb 11, 2025; Coral Gables, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Matthew Cleveland (0) shoots the basketball over Syracuse Orange guard Lucas Taylor (3) during the second half at Watsco Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

CORAL GABLES, Fla. –University of Miami men’s basketball senior Matthew Cleveland scored a career-high 32 points as the Hurricanes (6-18, 2-11 ACC) recorded their second conference win of the season with a 91-84 victory over the Syracuse Orange (11-14, 5-9 ACC) Tuesday night at the Watsco Center.

Cleveland led all scorers in the game with 32 points, marking his ACC-leading third 30-point outing of the season.

Freshman Jalil Bethea set a new career high in scoring with 21 points, while sophomore Paul Djobet tied his career high with 13 points.

The Hurricanes came out firing to start the game, shooting 54.8 percent from the field in the first half. Five different Miami players scored five-plus points in the first 20 minutes, paced by Cleveland who tallied 15 first-half points.

Miami and Syracuse traded baskets through much of the first 10 minutes until the Hurricanes strung together an 11-2 run to take a 41-32 lead with 1:50 to play in the half. Syracuse’s Lucas Taylor connected on a 3-pointer with three seconds left on the clock to cut Miami’s lead to six, 43-37, at the halftime break.

The Orange regrouped at halftime and made six of their first eight second-half shots to retake the lead, 54-52, at the 13:32 mark. Miami responded with a 6-0 run to pull ahead by four points, 58-54, but the lead quickly evaporated as Syracuse put together a 7-0 run of its own to go ahead, 61-58, with 9:26 to play in the game.

The Hurricanes knocked down four 3-pointers over the next four minutes to take a 72-66 lead with five minutes left in the game. Miami led by as much as nine in the final five minutes of the game, but Syracuse would not go away, cutting the Orange’s deficit to five, 84-79 with 50 seconds to play.

The final minute featured 12 combined free throw attempts but the Hurricanes held on to secure their second ACC win of the season.

Miami heads north to Pittsburgh to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday. Tipoff at the Petersen Events Center is set for 12 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN2.

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