Isaiah Wong Leads Shorthanded Miami To Upset Over No. 16 Louisville
Saturday night was a must-win for a Miami Hurricanes team that suffered a rough outing against Boston College on Tuesday. The ‘Canes were missing two of their top players with Chris Lykes still down with an ankle injury and Kameron McGusty remaining sidelined due to his hamstring. Only seven players suited up for Miami last night and one of them had to step up to get a much-needed conference win. Isaiah Wong did just that.
Isaiah Wong with 30 points 7 rebounds & 6 assists last night in the Miami win! pic.twitter.com/XuXT9JGd0J
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) January 17, 2021
After being held to only six points and five rebounds in the loss to Boston College, Wong responded in a big way posting a career-high 30 points while adding seven rebounds and six assists to shock the 16th ranked Louisville Cardinals. The sophomore was in control (zero turnovers) and made his final five shots from the floor despite twisting his ankle late in the second half. It was the best performance of his Miami career so far and put Miami back at .500 (6-6) with two of their next four games coming against sub .500 teams.
“Isaiah means a lot to this team,” said guard Elijah Olaniyi. “The thing is that everybody on the team knows his talent level and during the game we try to make sure his confidence level is at an all-time high because we know when he’s going, the whole team is going.”
Wong is the first Hurricane with 30 points since Brooklyn Nets guard Bruce Brown Jr. had 30 against North Carolina in 2017. It was Louisville’s first ACC loss of the season and Miami’s first win against a ranked opponent in their last 19 tries.
It was an important win for the Hurricanes who expect to get preseason All-ACC selection Lykes back soon after missing their last 10 games with an ankle injury he suffered in practice on December 4th. He returned to practice this week and his return combined with a friendly schedule could set Miami up for a strong second-half to the season. Wong’s ability to play well despite his absence (17/6/2.3 on 47.4% shooting) should give ‘Canes fans reason to believe they could have one of the deadliest backcourt duos in the conference headed down the stretch.
