The Miami Hurricanes men's basketball team started the season on a great note, with a win at home against the Jacksonville Dolphins, with a final score of 86-69.

They had momentum on their side with all five of their starters in double figures, including Ernest Udeh Jr., who recorded a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, along with an assist, a steal, and two blocks in 21 minutes.

However, Jai Lucas believes we have yet to see the Hurricanes at their very best.

"I felt we were bad tonight, to be honest with you," he said postgame. "This wasn't even a good night for us. A little bit was the zone, them just throwing us off a little bit, and then the first game jitters. We had a bunch of first-game jitters; our flow, our pace, our continuity wasn't there like it should be, but this is what our stat sheet should look like. I think we can end up with maybe six in double figures. Malik, I feel, just moving forward will be our leading scorer. Part of that is just the position he's in at the four and being a bigger four. Just that advantage and mismatches he'll have on a daily basis. We got to get him to rebound some more. He can't be at that position to only get two rebounds. For Tre and Tru, to figure stuff out on the fly was important as well. Shelton barely played, it felt. He was still able to impact the game and then the guys off the bench, Salih, Marcus has had a great preseason. His ability to be a connector, as I like to call it, be an ultimate glue guy. He's kind of like our Draymond Green."

Malik Reneau finished the game with 20 points, which led the team, two rebounds, and two assists. The 22-year-old is listed at 6'9, and strong, weighing in at 238 pounds. Lucas's expectation of him being more active on the boards is realistic. He averaged five rebounds throughout his three-year tenure at Indiana.

Reneau was certainly the biggest player on the court last night.

Shelton Henderson played for only 17 minutes, but scored 15 points. The freshman had some electrifying plays with his speed and athleticism.

Lucas is a defensive-minded head coach, which was his main assignment as an assistant at Duke University, and he wasn't pleased with the team's performance on that side of the court.

"I didn't think we were great defensively," he said. "The ball got in the paint too much. I thought our ball screen coverage today really struggled. The one thing I am excited about is the guys just continue to battle. They played the whole 40 minutes and figured it out on the fly. It's going to be games like that, especially for this to be the first game against Jacksonville, and looking forward to Thursday."

The Dolphins also started the game hot, making four three-pointers within the first five minutes of the game.

Defense was a big factor in the recruiting process when Lucas was reconstructing the roster.

"We always want to keep teams to under 70 points," he said. "We did that. Usually, we want to have six or less made threes. They came out and bombed four right away. We lost that battle."

Lucas graded the team a "D" for their defensive performance, but he will take it as an opportunity to give them a lesson to grow from.

The Hurricanes will face the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on their home floor on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.