McClellan leads Miami's 84-49 rout of Howard

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Sheldon McClellan scored 19 points as Miami routed Howard, 84-49, in the teams' season opener Friday night.

The Hurricanes started the game on a 17-1 run during the first 7:53 and never trailed. Manu Lecomte scored six points in Miami's early surge and James Palmer's 3-pointer with 12:27 remaining ended the spurt.

McClellan, a Texas transfer playing in his first game for the Hurricanes, shot 8-of-12 from the field. Angel Rodriguez, a Kansas State transfer, also had a successful debut for Miami with 16 points.

The Bison missed their first 14 shots. James Daniels' steal and driving layup 8:13 into the game ended the drought.

Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer with 8:20 left in the half for Miami's first 20-point lead at 28-8. The Hurricanes' largest lead of the half was 39-13 on Deandre Burnett's two free throws with 2:49 remaining.

Rodriguez's two free throws with 10 seconds left gave Miami a 45-21 lead at halftime.

The Hurricanes pushed their lead to 61-31 on Burnett's 3-pointer with 12:21 remaining in the second half. Lecomte's layup with 6:02 remaining gave the Hurricanes a 73-37 lead.

Lecomte was Miami's third player in double figures with 14 points. Tonye Jekiri had 11 rebounds for Miami.

Damon Collins scored 12 points for Howard. The Bison shot 18-of-63 from the field.

TIP-INS:

Howard: Red-shirt junior guard Brandon Ford will miss three to six weeks because of a sprained left ankle. A knee injury forced Ford to miss the 2013-14 season.

Miami: For the second consecutive season opener, the Hurricanes' roster featured nine scholarship players.

UP NEXT:

Miami visits No. 7 Florida on Monday.

Howard hosts Goucher on Sunday.