UM basketball team rallies from 17 points down, but falls short 80-78 to Virginia Tech
While the University of Miami football team was playing in the Cheez-It Bowl Tuesday night, the Hurricanes men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker 80-78 on the road at 24th-ranked Virginia Tech.
The Canes rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit and had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but Isaiah Wong’s three-point attempt from the top of the key bounced in and out.
“That was a great college basketball game,” said UM coach Jim Larrañaga. “Our guys gave it everything they had. Virginia Tech is a very good team, top 25 team, well-deserved…All in all, if you get a kind of open three-point shot at the top of the key to win on the road against a Top 25 team, you take that.”
Wong and freshman forward Matt Cross led Miami with 16 points apiece, including a pair of three-pointers at critical moments in the second half. Wong’s three cut the Hokies’ lead to five with under nine minutes to go, and Cross hit a three from the corner to trim the lead to 77-73 with 49 seconds to go.
Cross went 6-of-8 on the night with four three-pointers and managed an off-balance assist on a Harlond Beverly three pointer that closed the gap to one point with 26 seconds to go. Beverly ended the night with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists with five turnovers. Elijah Olaniyi scored 11, and center Nysier Brooks added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
But UM committed a season-high 19 costly turnovers and got to the free throw line just 10 times.
“We never hung our heads. We had a good plan,” Larrañaga said. “Last year, we were down seven (to Virginia Tech with 4:26 to go), came back and won the game in triple-overtime. I reminded our players of that and told them, ‘There’s plenty of time. Don’t look at the clock; play the game. Force turnovers, foul them and force them to make some pressure-packed free throws. Matt Cross stepped up and hit some critical shots, we got a couple of good steals. It was a very well-played game.”
The Hurricanes had no answer for Keve Aluma, who led the Hokies (8-1, 2-0 ACC) with a career-high 26 points. His free throws in the final minute sealed the win for Virginia Tech. “Aluma was a stud, he made so many big shots,” Larrañaga said. The Hokies will enter 2021 atop the conference standings.
Miami (4-3, 0-2 ACC) has lost three of its past four games and is missing key players. Preseason All-ACC guard Chris Lykes missed his fifth game with an ankle injury. Guard Kam McGusty has missed three games with a hamstring injury but has resumed limited practices. The Hurricanes are back home Saturday against Clemson.
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 9:14 PM.