Ice cold. Tight. Unclutch. Looking at a fourteenth straight loss to Boston College. That’s really the only way you could describe the first half twenty minutes of Miami’s home finale this evening.
Talk about a tale of two halves.
Jack McClinton was again your superhero. Stifled the first half and scoreless, #33 was unfazed down the stretch. Like all clutch players, it only takes one money shot to turn the tide. 17 of his 21 points came in the final twenty -12 of which were ridiculous three-pointers, all proving to be daggers at the right time.
Jimmy Graham proved another instrumental figure and was a huge reason Miami was only down seven at the half. Early on it was a handful of Graham offensive rebounds, steals and put backs that kept the Canes in the dogfight.
Later in the game, it was a steal and eventual bodyslam of Graham that woke Miami from its slumber. Keeping his cool, #00 made one of two technical free throws and on the ensuing play, McClinton buried his first three-pointer of the night, putting Miami up 41-40.
Down 41-36, BC’s Shamari Spears chucked Graham to the hardwood after a steal, in an effort to stop an easy lay up. Moments later, a five point swing and the Canes first lead since 3-2 early in the first.
Lance Hurdle came up big for the Canes, scoring X on the night and going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the game’s final moments. Hurdle had 19 points seven rebound and wound up a perfect 10-for-10 from the line.
Up next, the season finale at Florida State and a little bit o’ revenge on Miami’s mind. The Canes were punked by the Noles on February 6th, but have gone 6-1 since. FSU is 3-3 since and has zero shot at an NCAA bid after a 5-9 run since mid-January.
Miami? All but in the big dance. 21-8 and 8-7 in the ACC, the Canes look to have done enough to make the final 64 at season’s end. A win in Tallahassee will simply be the exclamation point and one last shot of momentum entering the ACC tourney.
Congrats to The U. This bunch overachieved early on and smacked up some lesser competition, only to have their noses bloodied, going 1-6 between January 15th and February 6th – the losing streak ironically starting with BC and ending with FSU.
Here’s a shot to close out the 2007-2008 regular season 22-8 and riding a wave of momentum into the NCAAs. Tune in Saturday – 12pm ET.