Shelton Henderson Scores 19 as No. 14 Miami Runs Away From Wagner 83-57

Four nights after a loss to the No. 1 team in the country, No. 14 Miami needed a night where the offense looked like the one everybody picked fourth in the ACC. Wagner gave the Hurricanes a few minutes of resistance, two early 3s and one brief lead. Then Miami started living at the rim and never really left.

Shelton Henderson scored 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Malik Reneau added 12 and Caleb Gaskins had 11 as Miami beat Wagner 83-57 on Friday night at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes shot 53 percent, scored 52 points in the paint and 24 on the fast break, and led for 94 percent of the game. Miami is 1-1. Wagner falls to 0-2 on a season-opening road trip that heads to No. 4 UConn next.

A Brief Scare From Long Range

The opening minutes went the way plenty of guarantee games go before the talent gap shows up. Reneau scored on a layup off a Henderson feed after an offensive rebound and Gaskins dropped in a floater for a 4-0 Miami start. Wagner answered from deep twice in a row. Taj Bryant pulled up from 28 feet, and Cam Estevez let one fly from 31 feet to tie it at 6.

After the teams traded free throws at 8-8, Tajae Jones scored on a layup with 15:45 left in the half, and Wagner was ahead 10-8 at the home of a top 15 team. That turned out to be the Seahawks' only lead of the night, and their largest by any measure.

Acaden Lewis tied it with a layup 14 seconds later. Gaskins buried a 3 off a Dante Allen pass, Reneau hit two free throws, and the Hurricanes were off. Bryant briefly slowed things with a pull-up jumper, but Gaskins answered with a driving layup, Robert Miller III finished an alley-oop dunk from Brent Bland, and Bland hit a 3 from the wing. From 10-10, Miami went on a 12-2 run to lead 22-12 with 10:30 to play in the half.

The Drought That Ended It Early

The game effectively broke during a four-minute stretch where Wagner could not score at all. Youssouf Singar made a layup at the 8:35 mark to get the Seahawks within 22-14. Their next points did not come until 4:17.

In between, Nick Dorn hit a 3 off a Lewis assist, Henderson made a free throw, Reneau scored in the post off another Allen feed, and Allen drove for a layup to make it 30-14. Singar scored twice in the final minutes to keep Wagner within reach, and Lewis attacked the basket for a 33-18 lead with 1:30 to go. Ryan Pettis drilled a step-back 3 with 16 seconds left, and Miami took a 34-21 lead into the locker room.

Wagner's 21 first-half points tell you most of what you need to know about its offense. The Seahawks spent the half settling for jumpers against a longer, quicker defense, and they finished the night 21 of 63 from the floor.

Henderson Takes Over After Halftime

If the first half was Miami pulling away, the first six minutes of the second half were Henderson making sure nobody had to think about it again.

Henderson opened the half with a 14-foot turnaround jumper. A minute and a half later, Henderson finished a driving layup off a Somto Cyril assist. Cyril then caught an alley-oop from Lewis, Henderson scored on a layup from Reneau, and Henderson capped it with a dunk at the 14:28 mark. That was a 12-2 Miami run to open the half, Henderson accounted for eight of those points, and the lead was 46-23.

Henderson kept going with a floater in the lane, Miller threw down another dunk, and the margin was 50-28 with 12:15 to play. Miami eventually led by as many as 32 before the deep reserves played out the final minutes.

The preseason All-ACC wing did not need a 3 to dominate. Henderson went 0 for 3 from beyond the arc and still finished 8 of 12 overall, 3 of 3 at the line, with three rebounds, a team-high five assists and three steals in 27 minutes. That is the version of Henderson that makes Miami dangerous: downhill, physical, and making the right read when help arrives.

The Numbers Behind the Rout

Miami's 3-point shooting was ordinary at best. The Hurricanes went 5 of 19 from deep, which is not a number that wins many games against good teams. It did not matter tonight because almost everything else was efficient.

The Hurricanes scored 52 points in the paint to Wagner's 22. They turned 15 Wagner turnovers into 20 points, and their 24 fast-break points against Wagner's three are the cleanest summary of the night. Miami had 10 steals, assisted on 18 of its 31 field goals and made 16 of 18 free throws.

Reneau was efficient in 23 minutes, making 5 of 7 shots and both free throws for 12 points to go with four rebounds, three of them offensive, plus two steals and a block. Gaskins added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and a team-high six rebounds. Cyril scored nine, most of it at the free throw line, where Cyril made 5 of 6.

The bench outscored Wagner's reserves 27-17. Bland hit three 3s and scored nine. Allen was arguably the most useful player off the bench, scoring eight on 2-of-2 shooting and 4 of 4 at the line while adding six rebounds and five assists. Miller made the most of nine minutes with seven points and two dunks.

The one quiet line belonged to Lewis. After scoring 24 against Florida in the opener, the sophomore guard had five points on 2-of-5 shooting. Lewis still handed out four assists and created a couple of the night's best looks, and on a night when Miami scored this easily inside, nobody had to force anything.

Jones Battles for Wagner

Wagner deserves some credit for its effort on the glass. The Seahawks grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to Miami's seven and lost the overall rebounding battle by only three, 36-33. Jones was the main reason, finishing with a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, four of them offensive, and going 7 of 9 at the free throw line.

The problem was everything after the rebound. Estevez scored 10 but needed 16 shots, going 2 of 10 from 3. Kareem Watson, who led Wagner with 13 points off the bench in the opener at Boston College, added nine on 4-of-8 shooting with two steals. Pettis scored eight and Singar finished with six points and two blocks. As a team, Wagner shot 33 percent and assisted on only seven baskets.

This is the first season under head coach Dwan McMillan, who was named the program's 20th head coach in April after serving as interim coach in 2025-26. A three-game road swing against Boston College, Miami and UConn was always going to be about learning and absorbing punches. Wagner absorbed plenty of them at the rim tonight.

There was a bit of history in the background. Before Friday, Wagner owned a 1-0 all-time record against Miami thanks to a 57-55 road win on Dec. 29, 1993, according to Wagner's preview (opens in a new tab). The series is now even at 1-1.

What It Means

For Miami, this was exactly the kind of game a ranked team needs after an opening loss. The Hurricanes fell to No. 1 Florida 77-67 in Monday's opener in Tampa, and the questions after that game were about whether the offense could find easy points against length. Against a much smaller opponent, Jai Lucas's team answered with transition baskets, lobs and relentless drives. The 3-point shooting still needs to come around before Miami meets TCU on Nov. 24, but the paint production, the ball pressure and the depth all looked like a team built for a long season.

For Wagner, the next stop does not get any easier. The Seahawks visit No. 4 UConn on Monday, the same program Wagner beat 67-58 on the road on Nov. 11, 2016 for its most recent win over a ranked opponent. Miami returns to the Watsco Center on Monday to host North Florida.

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

Final: No. 14 Miami 83, Wagner 57. Miami is 1-1. Wagner is 0-2.

Photo: Miami Athletics (file photo).