Miami 96, #5 Duke 95…

I don’t give Miami Basketball the love Miami Football gets around here, but the other Canes definitely deserve some front page props for their upset of No. 5 Duke earlier tonight.

Miami hadn’t beaten Duke in 45 years – and almost blew a 20-point lead down the stretch, before two Jack McClinton free throws put the Canes up by four before a meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer, earning a hard-fought 96-95 victory for The U.

Dwayne Collins scored a career high 26 points and Miami made six of eight free throws in the final 41 seconds to preserve the upset.

Much respect given to this Canes team regarding their tenacity down the stretch here. After a three-game losing streak that started the end of January (Wake Forest, Duke and Florida State) the then 15-7 Canes were faced with a handful of do or die, season changing games and have prevailed. Miami has since won back-to-back road games at Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech before upsetting Duke this evening.

Sitting at 18-7 and 5-6 in the ACC, Miami needs a few more wins for a shot at this year’s NCAA tourney. Miami gets Maryland on Saturday and then closes out the season at Clemson, Virginia, Boston College at at Florida State on March 8th, looking for revenge.

Could be an interesting few weeks for the Canes and this team finally has my attention. Hopefully they can make something happen. Kudos to Frank Haith and this ‘never say die’ bunch.

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