Malik Reneau scores 24 as Miami pulls away from Missouri late
Miami's Tre Donaldson celebrates after scoring during the second half against Missouri in an NCAA Tournament first-round game Friday in St. Louis. ©Jeff Roberson ST.
LOUIS — Malik Reneau, Tre Donaldson and the rest of the guys from Miami heard the boos before they stepped onto the floor for their NCAA Tournament opener, which was supposedly played at a neutral site but sure felt like a road game. The crowd was filled with Missouri fans for a game played a couple of hours away from the school’s Columbia campus. Unfazed by both the hostility of the fans and every run the Tigers put together, Reneau proceeded to score 24 points, Donaldson hit a couple of big baskets down the stretch, and the seventh-seeded Hurricanes pulled away late for an 80-66 victory on Friday night that earned them a date with Purdue for a spot in the Sweet 16.
“We had a good idea coming in what we were going to see in the stands,” said Donaldson, who finished with 17 points. “Our biggest thing was to treat it like a normal road game. Don’t overcomplicate it.
Don’t do anything different. We’ve won a couple of these. ” Now they’ve won one more.
Shelton Henderson also scored 15 points for the Hurricanes (26-8), who trailed midway through the second half of their first NCAA Tournament trip since they reached the 2023 Final Four, but put together an 11-0 run that gave them control down the stretch. Now, Miami gets to face the second-seeded Boilermakers on Sunday (12:10 p. m.