Miami Hurricanes let one slip away at Boston College
An inability to extend a seven-point lead late in the game, poor offensive possessions, Boston College getting to too many 50/50 and loose balls and too many turnovers late cost the Miami Hurricanes in a 72-70 loss at Boston College on Saturday.
A pair of Chris Lykes field goals with 6:17 remaining in the game gave the Miami Hurricanes a 70-63 lead. In the next 2:44 the ‘Canes had six chances to extend the lead. They had three turnovers and three missed shots during that time frame.
Boston College’s Ky Bowman split a pair of free throws with 5:07 remaining to cut the Miami Hurricanes lead to 70-64. Neither team scored for the next 2:34. A Jerome Robinson jumper with 3:33 remaining further cut the Miami lead to 70-66.
The Eagles scored six more unanswered points down the stretch to close the game on a 9-0 run. That gave them the 72-70 victory. It’s a heart-crushing defeat for the Hurricanes. Miami’s 12 game winning streak against Boston College ended with the loss.
The keys for the Hurricanes coming into the game was being able to defend the three and Bowman and Robinson. Boston College made seven of their 19 three-point attempts for 36.8 percent. Bowman made four of his six three-point attempts.
The Eagles star backcourt combined for 53 points. Robinson scored 29 on 10 of 15 from the floor and eight of nine from the foul line. In addition to his hot three-point shooting, Bowman was seven of 11 from the floor, six of seven from the foul line, had 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
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Miami self-destructed down the stretch from a variety of angles, particularly late. The Hurricanes did a good job defensively on Boston College’s last possession.
After Robinson missed a potential game-winning shot, Anthony Lawrence rebounded the miss. Falling out of bounds he tried to save it back inbounds and it went right to Bowman. Bowman then hit the game-winning free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining in the game.
The loss drops Miami into a fifth-place tie in the ACC with Louisville a half-game behind North Carolina. The Hurricanes own the tiebreaker with the Cardinals. Miami won their only meeting of the season last month in Coral Gables.
Three Miami Hurricanes finished in double figures. It didn’t come from where you’d normally expect. Dejan Vasiljevic finished 17, Chris Lykes 16 and Ja’Quan Newton 11.
Lykes and Newton led the turnover parade. They each had four. Newton had two turnovers and Lykes and Anthony Lawrence one each after they took the 70-63 lead.
Next game: The Hurricanes don’t have much time to contemplate the loss to Boston College. They return home for back to back games at the Watsco Center for the first time since November.
Next: What would Miami Basketball All-time starting five be?
They will host Virginia Tuesday night on National television. The Cavaliers will be the nation’s number one team when the new rankings come out Monday.