Eastern Kentucky made a statement -- at Miami's expense.
Corey Walden scored 18 points to help lead the Colonels of the Ohio Valley Conference rout No. 18 Miami 72-44 on Friday night.
The Colonels (6-4) never trailed, led by two at halftime and pulled away with a 22-2 run early in the second half. Isaac McGlone keyed the surge with three 3-pointers and his third conversion from behind the arc gave Eastern Kentucky a 43-27 lead with 13:21 remaining.
Miami (9-2) was scoreless for an 8:27 stretch until Davon Reed made two free throws with 10:40 left to cut Eastern Kentucky's lead to 43-29.
"Our whole goal going into the game was there's no way we were going to allow Miami to get to 50," Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer said. "You can have 49 points but they're not getting 50. Somehow that came true here tonight."
The Colonels ran off eight straight points on consecutive 3-pointers from Timmy Knipp and Jaylen Babb-Harrison's layup for a 51-29 lead with 8:49 remaining.
Knipp scored 17 points and hit 5-of-9 3-pointers. Eric Stutz added 13, and McGlone had 12.
"It's a dream come true," Knipp said. "You dream about playing in these types of games and escaping with a win. It's a huge boost for our team and our teammates."
Reed's 3-pointer with 8:07 left ended a field goal drought of 10:33 for Miami. The Hurricanes shot 29 percent from the field.
Sheldon McClellan led the Hurricanes with 14 points.
"It's one thing if you miss shots but we didn't share the ball very well," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "Because of that we didn't defend at all. We gave them everything they wanted -- no matter what."
ANOTHER EXTENDED STAY
The Colonels are on another extended trip. The team will stay in South Florida for a game Monday at Florida Atlantic. The Colonels had a Thanksgiving trip that featured games at Southern Utah and Brigham Young and also traveled to Australia and played four games during the summer.
LOPSIDED LOSSES
For the Hurricanes, Friday's loss was the most lopsided since North Carolina beat visiting Miami 105-64 on Jan. 31, 2007. The home loss was the worst since a 82-54 defeat against Virginia on March 1, 1997.
TIP-INS
Eastern Kentucky: The Colonels are 5-0 when leading at halftime.
Miami: Guard Angel Rodriguez, the Hurricanes' second leading scorer with a 14.2 average, scored one point. Rodriguez was 0 for 6 from the field.
UP NEXT
Eastern Kentucky: Visits Florida Atlantic on Monday.
Miami: Faces Providence at the Barclays Center in New York on Monday.
