Miami schooled by Virginia Tech, 65-47

With an outside shot at the NCAA tourney, the Miami Hurricanes laid the biggest egg of the season against conference foe Virginia Tech.

The Canes 47 points scored proved to be a season low, while the Hokies used solid defense to keep everyone in the black and orange from scoring double digits.

Watching this game, you couldn’t help but wonder how Miami mustered up 18 wins this season as Virginia Tech’s ability to shut down this one-dimensional offense should’ve been the blueprint every other ACC team should’ve followed; eliminate Jack McClinton from the equation and cruise to victory.

Down 12-2 early on, the Canes had a three-minute scoring drought and finally made it 12-4 with 13:43 in the first. Late in the half, Miami strung together three straight 3-pointers – two from Adrian Thomas and one from McClinton – cutting the 28-15 deficit to 28-24 at the half.

From there, Miami returned to ice cold. The second half started with a Dwayne Collins foul, a Tech 3-pointer and two missed free throws from Jimmy Graham. The sloppy play continued with McClinton missing two threes and Lance Hurdle missing a jumper.

Hurdle’s first points of the game didn’t come until the 10:58 mark in the second half, making is a 43-37 game. From there the Hokies went on a 14-0 run, putting the game out of reach and embarrassing a Miami team looking to make their claim for a spot in the final sixty-four.

Next up for the Canes, an NIT berth in a season where they garnered the most preseason hype the program had seen in forever. After opening the year 14-4, Miami closed with a 4-8 stretch, playing themselves out of a meaningful postseason.

Thankfully Miami fans can turn their attention to a sixth-ranked, 12-2 baseball squad prepping for a three-game home stand against Duke this weekend. Not to mention a football program primed for a turnaround this fall, based on the good news coming out of spring camp.

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