GAME NOTES: The first round of the Charleston Classic continues as TD Arena on Thursday afternoon, as the Drexel Dragons square off against the Miami-Florida Hurricanes.

The winner moves on to Friday's semifinals to play either USC or Akron. The two losers will face off in the consolation bracket.

Drexel has had a rough go of it in its first two games. First it traveled out to Colorado for its opener last Friday and suffered a 65-48 defeat, then it came home for a contest with cross-town rival Saint Joseph's only to fall to 0-2 following a 52-49 loss.

Miami, meanwhile, has soared in the first week of the season. After registering a convincing win in its opener at home on Friday against Howard, 84-49, it registered the season's most high-profile upset when it went into Gainesville on Monday and knocked off No. 7 Florida, 69-67, to snap the Gators' 33-game home winning streak. It was the Hurricanes' first road win over a top-10 team since beating Duke in February of 2012.

This marks the first-ever meeting between the programs.

The Dragons carried a slim 25-24 lead into halftime of its last game and continued to hold an advantage midway through the second quarter until Saint Joseph's took control of the game with a 6-0 run. In the low-scoring affair, they scored just two points over the final three minutes, and they spoiled a strong defensive effort by shooting a mere 34 percent from the field. Damion Lee did his best to overcome the struggles of his teammates by dropping in a game-high 23 points while knocking down all nine of his free-throw attempts, but no one else scored more than six points.

Drexel's shooting woes are starting to become a trend, as it makes good on a lowly 31.5 percent of its shots overall and has scored less than 50 points in both of its outings. Lee has been a bright spot with 17.5 ppg, although he is not immune to struggles from the field (.313). Tavon Allen (9.5 ppg) and Rodney Williams (7.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg) are the only other performers of note.

The Hurricanes' latest game was going as expected early in the second half, with Florida holding a 15-point lead, but the Canes fought all the way back and won the game with 16 seconds remaining on an Angel Rodriguez 3-pointer. After getting outshot from the field in the first half, 60.9 percent to 34.6 percent, they flipped the script in the second stanza by shooting a red-hot 65.2 percent to the Gators' 44.4 percent. Rodriguez hit 5-of-8 from 3-point range on the night on his way to 24 points and also helped on the defensive end of the court with three steals. Omar Sherman netted 10 points off the bench, while Sheldon McClellan (nine points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Tonye Jekiri (eight points, eight rebounds, three blocks) were also integral to the upset.

On the season, Miami scores 76.5 ppg while allowing a mere 58.0 ppg. Rodriguez has poured in 20.0 ppg to go with 4.0 apg and 3.5 steals per contest. McClellan (14.0 ppg) is the only other player in double figures, but five other contribute at least 5.5 ppg.

Miami is riding high after its thrilling upset and boasts the talent to be a threat to the big guns all season long. Against a lackluster Drexel squad, expect the Hurricanes to roll.