Hurricanes lose third heartbreaker in a row, 67-65 to North Carolina, drop to 0-4 ACC
The Miami Hurricanes have been making life difficult for the North Carolina Tar Heels since Jim Larranaga took over the UM men’s basketball program, and the trend continued Tuesday night.
Playing in front of a few dozen family members and cardboard cutout fans, the undersized and undermanned Canes led almost the entire second half, but UNC made a few clutch plays in the closing minutes and escaped with a 67-65 win.
It was the third heartbreaking loss in a row for Miami, following a one-point loss to Clemson and a two-point road loss to No. 24 Virginia Tech.
Miami dropped to 4-5 overall and 0-4 in the ACC, the first time in Larranaga’s 11 years that the Hurricanes lose their first four league games.
“These last three losses are difficult to swallow,” said Larranaga. “We put ourselves in position to win these games, but keep coming up a little short. Our guys fought valiantly, but Carolina kept coming, the press bothered us, and we didn’t handle it well.”
He was particularly disappointed that the Hurricanes let Tar Heel Andrew Platek sneak into the paint uncovered for the game-winning layup in the final second.
“We let him go to the basket and make that layup when that should have been our best defense of the night,” Larranaga said. “We had to get a stop and Andrew just went to the basket like noone was guarding him. That was horrendous defense by us. That was very, very disappointing.”
UM’s seven-foot center Nysier Brooks, facing a forest of Tar Heels over 6-foot-10, played with loads of energy and was a big reason Miami was outscoring UNC 30-12 in the paint deep into the second half. Brooks had a dunk in the opening minutes and six quick points. He went 5-of-5 for 10 points with six rebounds, two blocks, and three steals before fouling out with 5:35 to go.
Larranaga said it was no coincidence that Miami’s struggles began after Brooks fouled out.
“Nassir was negating some of their post play and getting some defensive rebounds and was a target inside and had gotten several baskets around the rim, so losing him was a huge loss,” Larranaga said. “But the main thing is we didn’t handle the full court press very well.”
The coach said he screamed at his players during a time out about their reaction to the Tar Heels’ press.
Miami got major contributions from its two versatile freshmen – Matt Cross and Earl Timberlake, getting his first start. Timberlake led UM with 12 points, and had five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three steals. Cross had six points, two assists, two steals and two rebounds. Both played with poise on both ends of the floor, but Cross lost the ball out of bounds at a crucial moment in the final minutes.
Long after both teams had left the arena, Cross was still out on the court alone, in a hoodie, working alone on his dribbling and shooting skills.
Elijah Olinayi had 11 points, and Harlond Beverly and Anthony Walker chipped in nine points apiece for the Canes.
“They are playing so short-handed, but there will be no quit,” ESPN commentator Dick Vitale said of the Hurricanes, who were playing without injured starters Chris Lykes (ankle) and Kam McGusty (hamstring) and had lost Sam Waardenburg and Rodney Miller for the season.
Vitale called the game remotely per COVID-19 precautions. His exuberant loud voice was missing from the Watsco Center, as were the packed stands, student section, cheerleaders and pep band.
But the Hurricanes found plenty of self-motivation. They were coming off a pair of close losses and this gritty group didn’t want to be the first Larranaga team to start 0-4 in conference.
UM took a 21-16 lead and then North Carolina missed 11 shots in a row over a seven-minute span. The Heels clawed back to take a 32-30 halftime lead.
Miami continued to play tenacious defense in the second half, had 11 steals and forced Carolina into 16 turnovers. The Tar Heels have struggled with turnovers much of the season.
The Hurricanes led by nine with seven minutes to go, and then they started to unravel.
UNC freshman Day’Ron Sharpe made back-to-back big plays to close the gap to four. Caleb Love went 1-for-9 for the Tar Heels Tuesday night, but his three-pointer with 2:45 to go cut UM’s lead to 61-60. A wide-open Leaky Black nailed a three with 1:42 to go to give UNC its first lead since the opening minutes of the second half.
Miami’s Isaiah Wong made a pair of free throws to tie the game 63-63 with under a minute to go and made a layup to tie it at 65 with six seconds to go. But Platek snuck in for the winning basket as time ran out.
Black led UNC with 16 points and nine rebounds. Sharpe had 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Freshman Kerwin Walton added 13. The Tar Heels improved to 7-4, 2-2 ACC.
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 10:52 PM.