Brent Bland Hits Eight 3s as No. 17 Miami Sets School Record in 94-52 Rout of North Alabama

For two games, Miami looked like a team that had misplaced its jump shot somewhere between Tampa and Coral Gables. On Friday night it found the thing, dusted it off and rewrote the record book with it. The No. 17 Hurricanes made 20 of 47 3-pointers, a school record according to Miami Athletics, 13 of them before halftime, and the North Alabama defense spent most of the evening running at shooters who had already let it go.

Brent Bland came off the bench to score 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a career-high 8 of 13 from deep, Nick Dorn added 18 points on six 3s, and Miami buried North Alabama 94-52 on homecoming night before 3,862 fans at the Watsco Center. Dante Allen handed out a career-high 12 assists against one turnover, Shelton Henderson posted 14 points and 12 rebounds, and the Hurricanes led by as many as 47. Miami improved to 3-1. North Alabama fell to 2-2.

A Five-Point Lead, Then Nothing

The Lions actually landed the first real punch. After Caleb Gaskins opened the scoring with a 3, Jarron Talley hit a turnaround jumper and Damarien Yates drained a 3 off a Quan Lax feed for a 5-3 North Alabama lead. It would be the visitors' only lead of the night.

Henderson tied it at the line, Gaskins hit another 3 off a Malik Reneau assist, and Dorn and Acaden Lewis connected from deep on consecutive trips, both set up by Allen. That was 14-6 with 14:47 to go in the half.

North Alabama answered better than most guarantee-game opponents do. Cortez Graham-Howard scored on a drive, Talley hit a 3 off a Mike Evbagharu pass, and after a Robert Miller III layup, Lax knocked down a 3 to make it 16-14 with 12:32 left in the half. For a team that had lost at Oklahoma four nights earlier, it was a legitimate game.

Bland Lights the Fuse

Then Bland checked in and the game changed shape. Bland hit a 3 off a Dorn pass at 11:20, then another off a Reneau feed 30 seconds later. Jacobe Whitted answered with a cutting layup to make it 22-16, and that was the last North Alabama basket for five and a half minutes.

Miami scored the next 16 points. Henderson threw down a dunk off a Reneau assist and tipped in a miss on the next trip. Then Bland went 3 for 3 from deep in a span of 54 seconds, every one of them assisted by Allen, and Dorn added another 3 to make it 38-16 with 5:54 left. Bland made five 3s in 3 minutes and 11 seconds of game clock. From 16-14, Miami outscored North Alabama 22-2.

The Lions never got closer than 17 the rest of the way. Julius Clark dunked and Ansar Osman hit a 3, but Miami kept firing. Dorn hit from deep, Henderson stepped out for a 3 and then converted a three-point play, Allen drove for a layup, Dorn hit a fourth 3 of the half with 35 seconds left and Lewis scored at the rim with 13 seconds to go. Graham-Howard hit a 3 just before the horn, but Miami led 54-26 at the break.

The Shooting Correction Arrived

This is the number that matters for Miami: 20 made 3-pointers, the most in a single game in program history. Coming in, the Hurricanes had gone 5 of 19 from deep against Wagner and 5 of 27 against North Florida, 10 of 46 combined over two blowout wins built almost entirely on size and second chances. The questions about whether that formula could hold up against better competition were fair. Friday was the first answer.

Bland and Dorn did most of the work, combining for 44 points and 14 of 25 from 3. Dorn did not attempt a single 2-pointer, going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc in 20 minutes. Gaskins made three 3s, and Henderson, Lewis and Allen each made one.

The ball movement made it possible. Miami assisted on 27 of its 34 baskets. Allen's 12 assists, against just one turnover in 30 minutes, were the best line on the floor that did not involve scoring. Allen also grabbed six rebounds and scored seven points. Lewis added eight points and seven assists, so the two guards combined for 19 assists on a night when Miami's shooters rarely had to create their own looks.

The rest of the box score backed it up. Miami shot 49 percent overall, outrebounded North Alabama 46-31, forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 20 points. The Hurricanes won the fast-break battle 19-9 and the paint 28-18. Miami's bench outscored North Alabama's entire roster, 59-52.

Henderson Steady, Reneau Quiet

Henderson recorded the night's only double-double, and the first of Henderson's career according to Miami Athletics, scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a career-high 12 rebounds, 10 of them on the defensive glass. Henderson did commit four turnovers, but that is nitpicking on a 42-point night. Somto Cyril added four points, five rebounds and two blocks, and Miller scored four points on 2-of-2 shooting in 15 minutes.

The one curiosity was Reneau. After scoring 16 points in 18 minutes against North Florida, Reneau played only eight minutes Friday and did not score, missing a lone shot attempt, though Reneau did pick up three rebounds, three assists and a steal. None of the sources available at publish time explained the light workload, and with the game decided early, it may simply have been a rest night. It is still worth watching with Rider coming to town on Tuesday.

Second Half on Autopilot

The second half was a formality. Drey Carter scored the first basket after the break, and Gaskins answered with a 3. Graham-Howard traded buckets with Miami for a few minutes and hit a 3 to make it 61-33, but Miller dunked off an Allen pass and Bland hit another 3 to push the lead to 66-33 with 14:21 left.

Lewis converted a three-point play, Henderson scored inside, Cyril dunked off a Dorn assist, and DeSean Goode knocked down a jumper to make it 75-36 with 9:13 to go. Miami kept going until the lead reached 47 at 83-36, before North Alabama salvaged a little dignity, scoring eight straight points and outscoring Miami 16-11 the rest of the way. Miami won the second half 40-26.

North Alabama Ran Into the Wrong Night

For North Alabama, it was a rough introduction to a shooting team at full heat. The Lions shot 33 percent from the floor and 10 of 32 from 3, and they attempted only four free throws all night, making two. Graham-Howard led the team with 10 points, going 2 of 5 from deep. Lax added nine points, six rebounds and three assists, and Whitted had seven points, four rebounds and two blocks.

The biggest problem was in the frontcourt. Evbagharu came in as the Lions' leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game according to the CBS Sports preview, and finished with three points on 1-of-2 shooting and three rebounds in 24 minutes. Caden Harris went 0 for 6. Yates was 2 of 9. Head coach Tony Pujol, a Miami native according to that same preview, spread the minutes around, with 10 players logging at least 18 minutes and nobody playing more than 24.

The Lions now head home to Florence with a far gentler stretch ahead, hosting Fisk on Nov. 16, Tusculum on Nov. 19 and Alabama A&M on Nov. 24. Their 2-2 start includes a road win at UC Davis and a home win over Union, and United Athletic Conference play is still weeks away.

What It Means

For Miami, the season is starting to take shape. The Hurricanes opened with a 77-67 loss to No. 1 Florida in Tampa, then rolled past Wagner 83-57 and North Florida 89-51 with interior muscle and very little outside shooting. Friday was the opposite kind of blowout, and it is the more encouraging one. Jai Lucas now knows this roster can win at the rim and win from the perimeter, and Bland and Dorn give the second unit real firepower.

The real test comes later this month. Miami hosts Rider on Nov. 17 and Manhattan on Nov. 20, then heads to Las Vegas for the Players Era 16, opening against TCU on Nov. 24 with Michigan or Creighton next. Alabama visits Coral Gables for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Dec. 2. If even half of Friday's shooting travels, the Hurricanes will be a problem in that field.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab), ESPN play-by-play and team stats, Miami Athletics box score (opens in a new tab), Miami Athletics recap (opens in a new tab) and schedule, CBS Sports play-by-play and preview, North Alabama Athletics. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Final: No. 17 Miami 94, North Alabama 52. Miami is 3-1. North Alabama is 2-2.

Photo: Miami Athletics.