Malik Reneau Scores 16 as No. 17 Miami Overpowers North Florida 89-51

Miami missed 22 of its 27 3-point attempts on Monday night and still won by 38. That is either a warning sign or a flex, depending on how you look at it, and against North Florida it was mostly a flex. The No. 17 Hurricanes simply refused to let the ball stay on the floor.

Malik Reneau scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting in just 18 minutes, Shelton Henderson added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Miami overpowered North Florida 89-51 at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes outscored the Ospreys 64-26 in the paint, won the rebounding battle 62-34, grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and never trailed. Miami improved to 2-1 in its first game since dropping to No. 17 in the new AP poll. North Florida fell to 1-2 at the end of a three-game road trip to open the season.

A One-Point Game, Briefly

For about eight minutes, North Florida made Miami work for it. The Hurricanes opened with Reneau scoring the first four points, a layup off a Henderson feed and a driving layup, but JR Bartelus answered with a 24-foot 3, and the Ospreys hung around by trading baskets.

Kent Jackson dropped in a floater. BJ Plummer drilled a 3 off a Jackson pass. Eddie Placer hit a step-back 3 from 24 feet, and Mason Watkins tipped in a miss with 12:06 left in the half to cut Miami's lead to 14-13. For a team that had just lost by 51 at UCLA three nights earlier, that was a real start.

It did not last. Nick Dorn buried a 3 off a Henderson assist, Dante Allen hit a short jumper off a Robert Miller III feed, Henderson scored on a layup, and Allen drove for another. That was a 9-0 Miami run in a little over a minute of game clock, and the lead was 23-13 with 10:43 to go before halftime.

From 14-13, Miami outscored North Florida 30-12 the rest of the half. Reneau stepped out and made a 3, Henderson scored on a floater and a layup, and Miller finished the half's best play, an alley-oop dunk off an Acaden Lewis lob with 1:16 left that made it 44-23. Miami took a 44-25 lead into the locker room.

Miami Owned the Glass

Miami's 62 rebounds were nearly double North Florida's 34, and 23 of them came on the offensive end. That is the kind of number that turns a cold shooting night into a blowout, because every miss became another chance.

Miller was the clearest example. Miller played only 17 minutes off the bench and finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, eight rebounds, six of them offensive, and two blocks. Egor Ryzhov played five minutes and still grabbed three offensive boards and scored seven points. Henderson added four offensive rebounds. North Florida could survive a Miami possession or two. It could not survive Miami getting three shots on a possession over and over again.

Somto Cyril did the rest of the damage around the rim. Cyril finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks, went 6 of 8 at the free throw line, and took only four shots from the floor.

The Second Half Was Over Fast

Whatever North Florida said at halftime, Miami had a better answer. Henderson opened the half with a layup. Reneau scored on a layup and then finished an alley-oop dunk from Caleb Gaskins. Gaskins hit a 3 off a Lewis assist, and Cyril dunked. Miami scored 11 of the first 13 points after the break and led 55-27 with 16:51 to play.

North Florida did not fold. Jackson hit a 3, Elijah Elliott scored a layup, Ayuba Bryant Jr. finished twice inside, and Plummer and Placer scored back-to-back baskets to make it 62-40 with 12:38 to go. That was as close as it got. Henderson caught a lob from Lewis for a dunk, hit a floater, Cyril threw down another dunk and Brent Bland knocked down a pull-up jumper for an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 70-40.

Gaskins capped the stretch with a dunk off an Allen pass for a 74-43 lead with 7:34 left, and the reserves handled the rest. Miami closed on a 15-8 run, and the 38-point final margin was also its largest lead of the night.

The 3-Point Problem Is Real

There is no hiding the shooting. Miami went 5 of 27 from 3, which is 19 percent. Dorn made two of eight. Allen missed all four attempts. Bland went 0 for 3, and Lewis went 0 for 2. Gaskins, at 2 of 5, and Reneau, at 1 of 3, were the only Hurricanes who looked comfortable from deep.

Against North Florida, it barely mattered. Against TCU in Las Vegas on Nov. 24, or Alabama in the ACC/SEC Challenge on Dec. 2, it will. Miami has now shot 5 of 19 from deep against Wagner and 5 of 27 against North Florida. Living at the rim and owning the glass works beautifully against smaller teams. The question is how it holds up when the other side has size and the paint gets crowded.

Everything else was strong. Miami shot 46 percent overall, assisted on 18 of 38 baskets, blocked eight shots and committed only eight fouls all night. The Hurricanes scored 21 points off North Florida's 17 turnovers and won the fast-break battle 17-9. The bench, led by Miller, Dorn, Allen and Ryzhov, scored 35 points.

Lewis Ran the Show Without Scoring

The most interesting line belonged to Lewis. The sophomore guard scored only two points on 1-of-8 shooting, and it was still a productive night. Lewis handed out eight assists, four of them setting up dunks, grabbed five rebounds, had two steals and turned it over three times in a team-high 33 minutes.

After scoring 24 in the opener against Florida, Lewis has now scored a combined seven points in two home games. That is not a crisis. On a team with Reneau, Henderson and Gaskins all capable of 15 on a given night, Lewis does not need to score to be valuable. But the 3-point shot has to come around for the whole roster, and the point guard is part of that.

Reneau, meanwhile, has been steady. After 12 against Wagner, Reneau was the most efficient scorer on the floor Monday, posting 16 points, five rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes while making a 3 for good measure. Gaskins added 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

Placer and Plummer Give the Ospreys Something

For North Florida, the starters struggled again. Bryant went 2 of 11 from the floor, Elliott scored two points with five turnovers, and the Ospreys shot 31 percent overall. Watkins grabbed six rebounds and Jackson handed out four assists, but the frontcourt simply could not handle Miami's size.

The bench gave head coach Bobby Kennen the best news of the night again. Placer led North Florida with 12 points, making two 3s, including a 27-footer in the second half. Plummer scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 2 of 2 from deep, in 20 minutes. That pair also combined for 20 points off the bench at UCLA, and it is fair to wonder how long Kennen keeps both of them in reserve roles.

The Ospreys made 6 of 17 3-pointers, a better percentage than Miami, and Placer, Plummer, Bartelus and Jackson all connected. North Florida also forced 14 Miami turnovers and turned them into 14 points. There just was not enough size to keep Miami off the offensive glass.

This was also familiar territory. Last December, Miami beat North Florida 105-67, with Henderson and Reneau combining for 39 points, according to The Miami Hurricane (opens in a new tab). The margin was almost identical this time, even with a far worse shooting night.

What It Means

For Miami, this was the third game of a season that started with a 77-67 loss to No. 1 Florida in Tampa and continued with an 83-57 win over Wagner. Jai Lucas's team is 2-1, and the profile is clear. The Hurricanes are long, physical and deep, and they can bury an overmatched opponent at the rim without needing a hot shooting night. Next up is North Alabama on Nov. 13 at the Watsco Center, followed by Rider and Manhattan before the trip to Las Vegas.

For North Florida, the road trip is finally over. After a win at California Baptist and losses at No. 22 UCLA and No. 17 Miami, the Ospreys play their home opener against The Citadel on Nov. 14.

Sources: ESPN box score (opens in a new tab), ESPN play-by-play and team stats, Miami Athletics, North Florida Athletics, The Miami Hurricane. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Final: No. 17 Miami 89, North Florida 51. Miami is 2-1. North Florida is 1-2.

Photo: Miami Athletics (file photo).