Miami Hurricanes Basketball: Hurricanes Hold Off Wolfpack, 65-60; Get Huge ACC Win

Angel Rodriguez hit eight free throws Thursday night, but none bigger than the couple he knocked down with 21.2 seconds left to go in regulation. Rodriguez’s free throw’s gave Miami a 63-60 lead en route to a huge 65-60 ACC win over the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

The Miami Hurricanes were coming off a tough road loss to Notre Dame this past Saturday and needed a big win in front of their home crowd against a NC State that is also fighting for NCAA tournament position.

The Hurricanes started off the game shooting well from the floor. Davon Reed hit a three, then Omar Sherman followed suit, while Sheldon McClellan converted on a long two to give the Canes an early 8-6 lead in the game. The rest of the first half, however, was a complete struggle offensively for Miami. The Hurricanes shot 32% from the floor in the first half, despite hitting 6 of their 14 three-point attempts.

On the other hand, Abdul-Malik Abu hit 6 of his first 8 shots and recorded the first 12 points for the Wolfpack. While Abu held it down offensively for NC State, it took almost 13 minutes for their leading scorer, Trevor Lacey, got it going. But once he finally got on the board, he rallied off 8 points in the final 7 minutes of the first half.

Miami lead 24-18 after a Reed three with 4:34 left in the first half, but then the team went ice cold. NC State took advantage of Miami’s poor shooting and strung a 15-2 run to end the first half, leading 33-26.

The start of the second half was the complete opposite to how Miami ended the first half. The Hurricanes clamped down defensively and were the aggressors on offense. After a nice Sherman up-and-under move, the Hurricanes found themselves back on top, and rallied off a 12-2 run to start the second half, giving them a 38-35 lead.

After a Kyle Washington layup that tied the game up at 41, Miami was able to get some separation thanks to a 13-4 run led by Sherman and McClellan. Down 56-47, NC State was able to rally off 5 straight points to cut the Miami lead down to 4 with 2:00 minutes left to play in regulation.

Ralston Turner hit a huge three-pointer down the stretch for the Wolfpack and cut the Hurricanes lead down to 58-57 with 1:33 seconds left to go. Rodriguez then split his free throws to give put Miami up 2, 59-57.

On the ensuing Canes possession, Rodriguez drove into traffic and got the ball striped by Lacey, but luckily for Miami, Ralston Turner missed a transition three that would have put NC State up 1 with 37 seconds left to play. Instead, McClellan converted on both his free throws to put Miami up 4.

Turner seemed to be the guy taking the big shots down the stretch for the Wolfpack, and with 21.6 seconds left to go, he hit a corner three to put NC State within 1.

Rodriguez then hit two big free throws to put Miami up 63-60 with 21.2 seconds left to play. An offensive foul called on ‘Cat’ Barber after great defense by Davon Reed, sealed the victory for the Hurricanes.

Tonye Jekiri had a rough outing against a Notre Dame team that he didn’t match up well against, but he had 6 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, and also had a +13 +/- in 34 minutes. Sheldon McClellan was huge for the Hurricanes and he recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

McCllelan called this a “must-win” game for the Hurricanes, and that’s exactly right. Miami needed a big ACC win before heading to Syracuse on Saturday afternoon. The Canes are now 3-2 in the ACC, and have played 4 of the top 6 teams in the conference. Syracuse will make it 5 out of the top 6 on Saturday.

It was a good night in Coral Gables.