CORAL GABLES—Rion Brown scored 18 points to lead Miami to a 66-50 win over Valparaiso on Wednesday night in the opening round of the NIT.The Hurricanes stretched a four-point lead and finished the game with a 16-0 run over the final 3:41. Malcolm Grant and Shane Larkin keyed the run with consecutive 3-pointers. Larkin scored 12 points and Trey McKinney Jones finished with 10 for Miami (20-12), which advances to a second-round matchup Sunday against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers beat La Salle 70-61.Brown hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Hurricanes their first double-digit lead, 44-33, with 11:31 remaining. Brown’s jumper with 9:15 left increased the lead to 48-35. Brown shot 6 of 11 from the field, including 4 for 7 from beyond the arc.Ryan Broekhoff and Will Bogan each hit 3-pointers to lead a 9-0 run for Valparaiso (22-12). Richie Edwards‘ jumper with 6:50 remaining ended the surge and got the Crusaders within 48-45. Broekhoff scored 18 points and Richie Edwards finished with 16 for the under-manned Crusaders, who used only six players.

“The score was not an indication of how close the game was,” Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew said. “I thought twice today Miami gave us a standing eight count and our guys immediately came right back.”

Garrius Adams‘ basket with 5:42 remaining ended a 6-0 spurt and increased Miami’s lead to 54-45. Valparaiso responded with four unanswered points and got to within 54-50 on Erik Buggs‘ layup with 4:23 remaining.Miami was without leading scorer Durand Scott, who began serving a six-game suspension after being declared ineligible last week for receiving impermissible benefits. Scott, who also missed Friday’s loss to Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, was notified of the suspension earlier Wednesday.