Brent Bland made five straight 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 26 points, leading No. 17 Miami to a 94-52 win over North Alabama on Friday in Coral Gables, Fla.
Malik Reneau sat out the second half due to a right shoulder injury. An All-ACC first-team selection last year, he went scoreless in eight minutes.
Miami (3-1) entered this game ranked No. 352 in the nation in 3-point shooting at 22.2%. As such, North Alabama (2-2) opened up by playing tight in the paint, almost daring Miami to shoot from deep.
That strategy — engineered by North Alabama coach and Miami native Tony Pujol — backfired.
Miami set a pair of program records with 13 made 3-pointers in the first half and 20 3-pointers in all, breaking the previous single-game mark of 18. The Hurricanes had totaled just 14 made 3-pointers over their first three games.
Bland, who led a 22-2 first-half run, made a career-high eight 3-pointers for the game on 13 attempts. Nick Dorn had 18 points and went 6-of-12 from deep, and Shelton Henderson added 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Hurricanes.
Two Hurricanes guards set up the offense as Acaden Lewis had eight points and seven assists, and reserve Dante Allen had seven points and a career-high 12 assists. Miami shot 48.6% from the floor and 20-of-47 from deep (42.6%).
North Alabama was led by Cortez Graham-Howard, who had 10 points.
The Lions led 5-3 early on a 3-pointer by Damarien Yates. However, Miami started to hit its deep shots, and, with 8:09 left in the first half, the Hurricanes led 35-16 on 9-for-18 shooting from distance.
By halftime, Miami led 54-26 as North Alabama shot just 34.5% from the floor. Bland had 15 points at the break, and Dorn and Henderson had 12 apiece.
The Hurricanes continued their barrage in the second half and rattled off 17 straight points to build a lead as large as 83-36 before calling off the dogs. Bland punctuated that run with a 3-pointer and a layup.
