CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Sheldon McClellan scored 21 points, Tonye Jekiri finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds and Miami shook off a slow start to easily beat Virginia Tech 76-52 on Wednesday night.
Angel Rodriguez added 11 points for the Hurricanes (17-9, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a 17-4 run to open up what was a three-point game at halftime and kept steadily adding to the lead.
Adam Smith scored 15 for Virginia Tech (10-16, 2-11), which made its first three shots - then missed 23 of its next 30. Devin Wilson and Justin Bibbs each finished with 11 for the Hokies.
Things got a bit heated in the second half, with both Miami coach Jim Larranaga and Hokies coach Buzz Williams earning technical fouls after arguing calls.
When Williams got his technical, not much changed.
When Larranaga got his, everything changed in a hurry.
After Virginia Tech scored six straight - coinciding with when Larranaga got his technical, then removed his jacket and implored the crowd to get louder by waving his arms, as did McClellan - the Hurricanes put the game away.
McClellan made a 3-pointer from the corner near the Miami bench, Rodriguez added a layup and before long the Hurricanes had put together a 18-5 run to take a 64-41 lead with 6:26 left.
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