Miami Hurricanes’ failure to slow down Virginia results in first losing skid of season
The Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball team defied expectations during its surge to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.
But UM is finding out lately how hard it is to stay at the top.
Against a Virginia team typically known for its stingy defense, the Hurricanes struggled to slow down the Cavaliers on the offensive end and suffered their second consecutive loss, 71-58, on Saturday night at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Miami (16-7, 8-4 ACC) dropped its fifth in a row against Virginia (14-9, 8-5) and fell to 3-10 against the Cavaliers during head coach Jim Larranaga’s tenure.
The Hurricanes have also hit their first rough patch since entering ACC play.
“We got out in front and now teams are catching up to us,” Larranaga said. “Every game comes down to whether you shoot well, do you defend well, do you rebound well? Tonight, we didn’t handle the ball well enough and we didn’t rebound or defend well enough.
“I told the players afterwards, we’re not the only ones in this position right now. You drop two or three in a row, you have to regroup and figure out how to get the next one.”
After entering the week in first place in the ACC, UM suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. The Hurricanes’ loss to Notre Dame at home on Wednesday coupled with Saturday’s setback dropped them into a tie for fourth place in the conference with North Carolina.
It was only Miami’s second loss in a true road game this season and its first loss in ACC play by double digits.
Kameron McGusty led the Hurricanes with 21 points while shooting 9 of 13 from the field, and Charlie Moore scored 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
But the Hurricanes didn’t get much offense beyond that and were unable to limit Virginia’s prolific shooting led by Armaan Franklin’s 22 points.
The Cavaliers shot 60 percent from the field (30 for 50) — a season-high for a Hurricanes’ opponent — and shot 8 for 15 from three-point range.
Two of Miami’s strengths this season were absent against the Cavaliers considering the Hurricanes entered the game ranked first in the ACC in offensive and defensive turnover rate and second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage.
The Hurricanes got off to an atypical cold start from long distance, missing their first 10 attempts from three-point range until Moore and McGusty each hit triples late in the first half to pull the Canes within four.
In a game in which Virginia defended well at the rim with their size and Miami did not shoot a free throw, the Hurricanes went 4 for 17 from three-point range. It was the first time ever the Hurricanes went without attempting a free throw in an ACC game.
Neither team shot free throws until Virginia made its three attempts over the final four minutes of the game.
“Virginia shot the ball extremely well and we didn’t,” Larranaga said. “And against Virginia because they pack it in so much and we’re not a post up team anyway, you’ve got to make threes and 4 for 17 is not very good.”
Franklin capped a quick five-point surge to end the half with a deep three-pointer to give Virginia its largest lead to that point at 35-26.
The Cavaliers shot 62.5 percent (15 of 24) in the first half and made five of their seven three-point attempts.
Virginia’s frontcourt players thrived near the rim using their size advantage as Gardner shot 6 for 9, Francisco Caffaro shot 4 for 4 — all in the paint — and reserve Kadin Shedrick shot 3 for 3.
Miami switched up to a zone defense early in the second half hoping for a chance of pace to slow down Virginia.
But the Cavaliers continued to stretch the lead as their leading scorer Jayden Gardner buried a triple that pushed Virginia’s lead to 48-34 with 14:09 left. Gardner, who scored only two points in the first half, ended up with 12 points.
Miami finished with 13 steals led by Jordan Miller, who had seven takeaways. Miller is the second UM player this season to record seven steals in a game, which is tied with Moore (Jan. 8 at Duke) and Vernon Jennings (Jan. 5, 2000) for the second-most in a game in program history.
The Hurricanes scored 17 points off 13 Virginia turnovers, but the Cavaliers still moved the ball well and recorded 23 assists overall. Virginia finished with 11 steals contributing to Miami’s 13 turnovers.
“We struggled defensively to keep pressure on them,” Larranaga said. “We did a good job early, but we clearly were not able to defend them the way we needed to and force more turnovers.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 7:28 PM.
