Dec. 27, 2008

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NEW YORK, NY (AP) - Starting his first game for an injury-riddled Red Storm team, rookie guard Quincy Roberts rose to the occasion, scoring a team and career-high 14 points with a team and career-best nine rebounds. The freshman's effort was not enough, however, as Miami senior Jack McClinton broke open a hotly-contested matchup in the second half, giving the Hurricanes a 10-point second half lead on the way to a 70-56 victory over St. John's (9-3) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

McClinton scored a game-high 20 points that matched his season high with five 3s in only seven attempts for the Hurricanes (8-3), who finished with a 46-30 rebound advantage to win for the fourth time in five games. Miami, which had 16 offensive rebounds, had five players with either six or seven rebounds, including McClinton with six. Hurricane junior James Dews had seven of his nine points in a 9-0 second-half run that sealed the Hurricane win.

St. John's Q. Roberts started for the first time this season in place of point guard Malik Boothe, who is expected to miss about two weeks after having surgery on his left thumb.

Justin Burrell, the third-leading scorer and rebounder for St. John's, returned after missing two games because of facial fractures from hitting heads with a teammate in practice. He played with a plastic face mask and had 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and two rebounds in 21 minutes.

"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us," Red Storm coach Norm Roberts said. "I told the kids [the injuries] are what we have going on and we have to battle through it. They kind of wore us down and hurt us on the glass."

Dwayne Collins added 16 points for Miami, while redshirt freshman center Julian Gamble had 10, one off his total for the season.

McClinton scored six points as Miami closed the first half on an 11-2 run to go up 38-28. St. John's was within 40-36 as the Hurricanes missed their first nine shots of the second half before McClinton hit the 3-pointers that extended the lead to 10, and St. John's was never closer than seven points the rest of the game.

Sophomore guard Paris Horne added 13 points for the Red Storm, despite missing 10 minutes in the second half because of a stomach cramp. Rookie guard TyShwan Edmondson scored a career-best eight points in a career-high 20 minutes off the bench, picking up some extra time with Boothe out of the lineup.

BIG EAST play begins with a trip to Providence on New Year's Eve (SNY). No. 8/11 Notre Dame visits The Garden on Jan. 3 for the Red Storm's BIG EAST home opener.