Louisville looked like it would cruise past Miami but ended up having to work hard in the closing minutes.
The end result was good enough for the 13th-ranked Cardinals.
Jordan Nwora scored 19 points including a critical layup with 5:21 remaining, and Darius Perry and Ryan McMahon followed with key baskets down the stretch to help Louisville pull away from Miami 74-58 on Tuesday night.
Louisville (12-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from consecutive losses to ranked foes, at Kentucky and at home to Florida State.
“It feels really good to back in the win column, for sure," Perry said.
But only after things nearly blew up.
The Cardinals led by 20 midway through the first half before the Hurricanes got within 11 at the break. Miami eventually whittled it down to 57-52 on Kameron McGusty's two free throws with 5:37 left before Nwora's layup provided a seven-point edge.
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Perry sandwiched a three-point play and a layup around McMahon's 3 to make it 65-54. Nwora added two free throws and Malik Williams added a three-point play with 42 seconds left to seal the win for the Cardinals. Nwora also grabbed 12 rebounds and had four assists, an all-around performance following his 32-point effort in the loss to FSU.
Steven Enoch had 12 points and 10 boards and Perry and Williams finished with 10 points each. Dwayne Sutton had 13 boards and nine points.
Louisville coach Chris Mack was happy Nwora had help.
“We need we need our older players, guys that are very experienced, we need them stepping up offensively,” Mack said. “If we're playing together, if we're pushing the ball, if we're moving the ball hard to half-court screening for one another and the ball gets reversed from side to side, we'll get some good stuff.
“I think we did that in the first 15 minutes and maybe the last five. But we've got to be more consistent.”
McGusty and Chris Lykes had 18 points apiece for Miami (9-5, 1-3), which dropped its second in a row. The Hurricanes shot 28%, including 26% from long range, and were outrebounded 48-37.
“We got ourselves in a rush and didn't make any passes,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said of the shooting. “Came down the floor and shot quickly. I'm guessing we might have taken 12 to 15 shots like that. When we didn't, we shot a good percentage.
“But when you go like 0-for-15 or 1-for-15 on shots and don't make any passes, then it's a problem.”
