On the road, Miami Hurricanes can’t rally past Syracuse Orange men

As the Carrier Dome roared to its loudest level of the night, Miami players stood still.

Syracuse followed-up a three-point play with an easy transition layup, and everything appeared to be going against Miami. Visibly fatigued, the Hurricanes watched as the Orange bench erupted. UM eighth-year head coach Jim Larrañaga tapped his hands on his shoulders to signal a timeout — to try to resuscitate the Hurricanes’ slow second-half.

Their rally sputtered midway through the second frame on Thursday night, and the Canes’ appeared destined to succumb in another game that was once tight. After a strong first half, Miami fell ice cold from the floor, Larrañaga was called with a technical foul and Syracuse swelled the lead in a 73-53 blowout victory over the Canes in front of 21,058 fans.

These are the losses that dim NCAA Tournament hopes.

These are the losses that, piled up together, demoralize a team.

While it was only the second time all season the Canes didn’t lead in the second half, they entered the break down only three against a surging conference opponent coming off wins over then-No. 1 Duke and Pittsburgh. The Canes had outrebounded Syracuse 24-12 and held the lead for the majority of the first half.

But Syracuse’s (14-5, 5-1 ACC) famed 2-3 zone slowed the Canes offense to a screeching halt. Miami entered the contest as the only high-major team with five players averaging at least 11.6 points per game. Thursday night, only Dejan Vasiljevic (team-high 11 points) finished with more than nine points. One-third through conference play, The U falls to 9-9 overall and 1-5 in the ACC.

With Bruce Brown and Lonnie Walker gone from last year’s team, sophomore point guard Chris Lykes has needed to attack the rim and shoot from deep. The zone limited him in both areas.

Lykes finished with eight points. Guard Zach Johnson added nine.

The Canes, picked to finish 10th in the ACC this season, have tumbled in conference play. They earned a No. 6 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but the Big Dance is slipping from the Canes’ grasp with each loss.

They’ve lost five of their last six, and it won’t get any easier. Miami returns home for two games, beginning with Florida State on Sunday night.

Then UM hosts No. 10 Virginia Tech on Jan. 30. As the thick of conference play looms, the Canes find themselves running out of time to turn a corner.