Navy @ Miami preview

No. 12 Miami (Fla.) was slow out of the gate in the opener Friday, but picked up the pace in the second half and exploded past Gardner-Webb 77-45. Miami will look to build off that win at home Sunday against a surprising Navy team that comes off its first victory over an ACC foe since 1971, as the Midshipmen defeated Pittsburgh 71-62.

It was a tale of two halves against Gardner-Webb, with the Hurricanes managing just 27 points on 33.3 percent shooting in the first half before ripping off 50 points on 63.6 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes, including a 29-4 surge to open the second half. "Maybe it's first-game jitters because we missed a bunch of free throws early," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said at his postgame press conference. "Sometimes the adrenaline is flowing and you can't calm yourself down. But you saw the difference in the second half when we were a little bit more connected." Five Hurricanes wound up in double figures -- Miami had just three games with five players in double figures last season -- led by sophomore star Bruce Brown Jr., who totaled 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists to post his second career triple-double and just the third ever in school history. Like Miami, Navy came out of the locker room for the second half on fire Friday, going on a 17-3 run as the Midshipmen held Pittsburgh without a field goal for the first 10:46 after halftime.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra

ABOUT NAVY (1-0): Senior guards Bryce Dulin (team-high 18 points, eight rebounds) and Shawn Anderson (15 points, nine rebounds) spearheaded the Navy attack versus Pittsburgh, combining for 33 points and 17 rebounds to lead a Navy team that went 16-16 a year ago. Senior forward Tom Lacey also came up with a solid effort with eight points and eight rebounds as Navy outrebounded Pittsburgh 39-30. "Overall, our seniors did a nice job and came through tonight," said Navy coach Ed DeChellis after the game. "I'm very proud of our effort. We played hard, we executed, and we made free throws down the stretch. Defensively, we gave a good effort."

ABOUT MIAMI (1-0): While Brown got his sophomore season off to a rousing start with his triple-double Friday, he had plenty of support as sophomore forward Dewan Huell and junior center Ebuka Izundu topped all Miami scorers with 14 points, with Izundu chipping in with 10 rebounds to post his first career double-double. Senior guard Ja'Quan Newton added 13 points, and prized freshman guard Lonnie Walker scored 10 in his highly awaited debut. Guard Dejan Vasiljevic is expected to be a double-digit scorer, but he got off to a slow start in the opener, hitting on just 2-of-12 for seven points.

TIP-INS

1. Navy and Miami have met just once before, with the David Robinson-led Midshipmen winning 78-62 on Feb. 7, 1987.

2. Brown became just the sixth player in ACC history to earn a pair of triple-doubles as he also turned the trick against South Carolina State in 2016 with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

3. Huell fell one point shy of his career high of 15 in the season opener.

PREDICTION: Miami 86, Navy 66