Here’s what you need to know about Miami vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech basketball game
Looking to end its conference skid, the University of Miami men’s basketball team faces another tough challenge at home Wednesday night against 12th-ranked Virginia Tech.
The Hurricanes fell to 9-10 overall and 1-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after their loss to Florida State on Sunday. It is Miami’s worst league start since 2011.
In that game, point guard Chris Lykes went 0 for 12 and finished with one point, the worst game of his college career. Lykes also struggled in last week’s loss at Syracuse. But his coaches and teammates are confident he will break out of his funk.
“Chris, he is going to be good, going to get through this,” said guard Anthony Lawrence. “Teams are game planning for him right now, making everybody else score. So, everybody else has to do what they have to do, then Chris can buy his shots and get an easy shot for himself, and get himself going.”
The Canes have been limited to a seven-man rotation, and are especially thin in the post, with the suspension of Dewan Hernandez and the injury to Deng Gak. Hernandez announced Monday he is withdrawing from school and preparing for the NBA Draft after the NCAA denied his latest appeal for reinstatement.
Guard Zach Johnson, who led UM with 20 points against FSU, sprained his ankle in that game and could be limited on Wednesday.
Virginia Tech (16-3, 5-2 ACC) features 6-10 junior forward Kerry Blackshear and senior guard Justin Robinson, who Monday was named Player of the Week after he scored 35 points (nine three-pointers) and had eight assists against Syracuse.
“They’ve got a veteran team, those guys have been together a long time,” Larranaga said. “They have an outstanding group of 3-point shooters. You’ve got an anchor like Blackshear, so they play great team defense.”
After the loss to FSU on Sunday, Larranaga reminded his players about the strength of the ACC.
“I told them, ‘Hey, you’re in the ACC’ and asked them ‘How many teams in our league have winning records and how many teams have losing records?’ There are eight teams with losing records, several with just one win. It’s a very unforgiving league if you don’t play well. We need all seven of our guys to play well.”