CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) No. 12 Miami applied smothering defense led by center Tonye Jekiri to hold No. 11 Louisville without a point for nearly 5 minutes down the stretch Saturday to win 73-65.
Miami rallied from a 62-58 deficit by scoring 12 consecutive points. Louisville missed nine consecutive shots, several while pressured by the 7-foot Jekiri.
Jekiri, playing with four fouls, made both ends of a 1-and-1 to put the Hurricanes ahead to stay, 63-62.
Angel Rodriguez had 17 points and seven assists for the Hurricanes (23-5, 12-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who completed a sweep of their nine league home games. The Cardinals (22-7, 11-5) fell behind Miami into third place in the league race with two games left.
Davon Reed's 3-pointer in the final minute helped seal the win.
