No. 17 Miami is still trying to find its footing, but the Hurricanes have already shown the kind of game that can overwhelm an opponent: size, rim pressure and rebounding.
That formula will be on display again Friday night in Coral Gables, Fla., when Miami faces North Alabama. The Hurricanes are 2-1 after bouncing back from a season-opening loss to No. 1 Florida with two straight wins, including an 89-51 rout of North Florida on Monday.
The most encouraging sign for Miami came from Malik Reneau. An All-ACC pick after averaging 18.9 points last season, he had totaled just 17 points across the first two games before breaking out with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in only 18 minutes against North Florida.
"Malik finally looked like himself," Hurricanes coach Jai Lucas said after the win.
Miami still looks like a team sorting out its identity. Lucas said the roster is adjusting to new roles and new teammates, and while he called the North Florida victory a "step forward," he also said that "our spacing was bad."
That spacing issue has shown up from deep. The Hurricanes are shooting just 22.2% from 3-point range, a mark that ranked No. 352 nationally through Wednesday’s games.
What Miami does have is a front line built to bully teams inside. The starting group includes point guard Acaden Lewis and four big bodies: Shelton Henderson (6-6, 240), Caleb Gaskins (6-8, 220), Reneau (6-9, 247) and Somto Cyril (6-11, 263).
"We have Shelton playing the two," Cyril said. "That’s all you need to know. ... We just have to impose our will in the paint."
North Alabama arrives with a little bite of its own. The Lions are 2-1 and showed plenty of fight Monday in an 81-72 loss at Oklahoma, where they led 38-37 in the opening minute of the second half before the Sooners pulled away.
Even in defeat, North Alabama held its own in several areas. The Lions outscored Oklahoma 36-22 in the paint, finished with a 36-23 edge in bench points and were close on the glass, 35-33.
Mike Evbagharu was the big reason they stayed in it. He scored 27 points, hit 10 of 11 shots, made two 3-pointers and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
A native of Canada, Evbagharu is at his fourth college in four years after previous stops at Siena, Central Arkansas and Canisius. He started 54 games across those three schools and has become a key veteran presence for the Lions.
He leads North Alabama in scoring at 19.0 points per game and in rebounds at 7.0. Quan Lax is the only other Lion scoring in double figures at 11.0 and also leads the team in steals at 2.7.
North Alabama finished 9-21 last season and is in its first year in the United Athletic Conference, which was formerly the Western Athletic Conference. The Lions played in the Atlantic Sun from 2018-26 and have never reached the Division I NCAA Tournament.
Friday’s matchup also carries a personal note for North Alabama coach Tony Pujol, who is from Miami. Pujol built a strong prep coaching résumé in the city, going 250-46 in nine years at Northwest Christian and winning state titles in 1999, 2003 and 2004.
"Coming back to Miami is always special to me because it’s home," Pujol said. "I have tremendous respect for the University of Miami."
North Alabama has never played Miami, and the Lions are 0-4 against ACC teams.
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