Steve Mitchell – USA TODAY Sports
Miami senior guard Trey McKinney Jones was embarrassed on Sunday Jan. 13 when the Hurricanes beat Maryland. Maryland was pressuring the Miami inbound with time winding down, so Jones sprinted towards the basket where Durand Scott hit him in stride. Jones rose up for a slam that would have been a dagger in the heart of the Terrapins, but he was denied… by the rim.
Lucky for Jones, the Hurricanes were ahead by seven points with six seconds to go at the time of the blunder. The missed dunk was one of his eight missed shots on the day, and he finished the game going 3-for-11 from the field. He still managed to score 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and a steal in the victory. Six of his twelve points came from behind the arc.
Jones has thrived as a role player for head coach Jim Larranaga’s squad this year, but he has been thriving as a shooter with 3-point range. Maybe he should stick to shooting the ball and leave the soaring dunks to teammate Rion Brown.
Jones has been a crucial piece in Larranaga’s rotation and is clocking 31.6 minutes per game. That is third most on the team where the two ahead of him are also guards, Scott and Shane Larkin. In his significant minutes Jones has averaged 9.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He has been an efficient shooter for Miami shooting 39.4% from the field including 39.3% from behind the arc. Jones is also leading the team from the free throw line shooting better than 90%.
Miami has surprised college basketball followers nation wide thus far with a 12 win and 3 loss record. They have endured even with the partial absence of starting center Reggie Johnson who has missed eight games this season, and is still out with a broken thumb.
Now in ACC play, Miami could really make a name for themselves in 2012-13 with decisive wins down the stretch.
