Guard Ja'Quan Newton and guard/forward Anthony Lawrence combined for 38 points and Miami picked up the defensive intensity in the second half for a 67-53 victory over Stanford on Thursday in a first-round game of the Advocare Invitational at HP Field House at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando.

Newton led all scorers with a season-high 20 points and Lawrence, a sophomore, matched his career high with 18 points -- all in the second half -- as the Hurricanes (4-0) overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half and finished the game on a 14-2 scoring run over the last six minutes.

Guard Dorian Pickens led the Cardinal (4-1) with 15 points.

The game was a rematch of the 2015 NIT title game which Stanford won 66-64.

Stanford built an early 19-10 lead before Newton ignited a Miami rally. He scored 10 consecutive points to pull the Hurricanes into a 23-23 tie, but the Cardinal responded by scoring the final four points of the first half.

The Cardinal increased a 27-23 halftime lead to 33-25 just over two minutes into the second half before the Hurricanes went on an 8-0 run to tie it with 15:41 left. No more than four points separated the two teams after that until Miami's closing run.

Miami will play Iowa State Friday in a semifinal game. Stanford will take on Indiana State later in the day.

Miami announced before the game that junior guard Rashad Muhammad, a transfer from Oklahoma State who had been suspended for the first three games, has been dismissed from the program, leaving the Hurricanes with nine scholarship players.