CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- With sophomore guard Bruce Brown not available, freshman guard Lonnie Walker IV made the most of his first career start for Miami.

Walker overcame early foul trouble to pour in a season-high 26 points, leading the No. 10 Hurricanes to a 69-54 victory over Boston University on Tuesday night.

"It was definitely a lot different compared to my high school season," said Walker, who was 9 of 15 from the field, including 5 of 7 on 3-pointers. "I'm so used to starting.

"It's a humbling moment. Since Bruce is down, I had to understand that I had to up my game personally and also as a team. Everyone on the team had to step it up individually also."

Guard DJ Vasiljevic added 15 points as the Hurricanes (8-0) shook off the determined Terriers (3-4) in the second half after the teams went into the intermission tied at 30-30.

"I was a little concerned at halftime that Boston University seemed to be quicker to the ball, quicker to the rebounds and just played with a little more energy and execution than we did," Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. "We didn't make really any adjustments at halftime.

"We just told them they needed to play harder and better and execute better, and I thought we did."

Walker picked up two early fouls and played only nine minutes in the first half, scoring just eight points.

"Obviously, Lonnie Walker had a terrific breakout game -- 26 points, seven rebounds and a couple of assists," Larranaga said. "DJ Vasiljevic shot the ball well again, and I thought our defense in the second half was much improved."

It was the second straight game that Walker set a career high in scoring. He had 12 points in an 80-52 win over Princeton in his previous outing. Vasiljevic, who had a career-high 20 points against Princeton, backed that up with 15 against Boston University.

The Hurricanes scored the first seven points of the second half and led the rest of the way, though the Terriers didn't go away quite as easily as the final score might indicate.

After falling back by 17 points less than eight minutes into the second half, the Terriers cut that down to 55-47 before the Hurricanes got their lead back into double digits.

"You know going into this game that they're so talented that someone has the ability to have a great game on their team, and tonight Walker was terrific," Terriers coach Joe Jones said. "He's a terrific player. He's an NBA prospect. That kid's a freshman? He does not look like a freshman. He is built. He is terrific."

Sophomore Max Mahoney, whose follow-up at the buzzer gave the Terriers the tie at halftime, came off the bench to lead the Terriers in scoring with 12 points. Guard Cedric Henderson added 10.

NOTES: Miami sophomore G Bruce Brown, the team's No. 2 scorer (11.7 ppg), has been dealing with a hand injury for some time, and it will need at least a few more weeks to heal. The Hurricanes have an 11-day break for finals with their next game Dec. 16 at George Washington. Brown isn't expected back until Dec. 23, when the Hurricanes play Hawaii in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. ... Miami is 8-0 for the second time under coach Jim Larranaga in seven seasons. ... The Terriers shot only 32.3 percent from the field and 28 percent from 3-point range in becoming the sixth team in eight games this season to fail to reach the 60-point mark against Miami.