Miami basketball falls late in loss at number three Virginia

After cutting the Virginia lead to 45-39 with 8:15 remaining, the Miami basketball team lost 56-46 at Virginia on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Hurricanes fifth in a row. They fall to 9-12 overall and 1-8 in the ACC.

A 10-3 Virginia run after the Miami basketball team cut the Cavaliers lead to six put the game away. The Hurricanes were never within single digits the rest of the way. It was one of Miami’s better efforts in ACC play during what has been a trying season.

Poor three-point and free shooting and a big rebounding deficit was the difference in the game. Miami made four of their 21 three-point attempts, eight of 15 from the foul line and was outrebounded 42-24, The rebounding deficit was 39-18 at one point. The Hurricanes 19 percent on threes was six percent below what UVA allows.

Miami entered Saturday’s game fourth in three-point attempts and makes and seventh in three-point percentage in the ACC. Virginia leads the nation in three-point percentage against at 25 percent.

The Hurricanes were able to attack the rim in the second half to keep the game close. Miami had a far more impressive second-half performance offensively than they have recently.

Miami shot 40 percent from the floor after halftime. The Hurricanes kept pace with UVA being outscored only 28-25 in the final 20 minutes. If not for that late Cavaliers run, the Hurricanes would have “won” the second half. Miami did a much better job rebounding in the second half. Virginia had a 17-13 advantage after halftime.

Chris Lykes led three players in double figures for the Miami basketball team with 16. Zach Johnson and Sam Waardenburg each finished with ten. Waardenburg scored nine points in the first half. The Kiwi has averaged 10.67 points per game over Miami’s last three.

Usually going with a seven-man rotation, Miami Head Coach Jim Larranaga mostly went with five ironmen in the loss to UVA. Lykes, Johnson, Waardenburg, Ebuka Izundu and Anthony Lawrence Jr all played at least 35 minutes. DJ Vasiljevic played 16 and Anthony Mack six.

It’s not known why Vasiljevic saw such a drastic reduction in minutes against Virginia. The Aussie was averaging 31.1 minutes per game before the loss to Virginia. Vasiljevic missed all three of his field goal attempts and added two rebounds. It was Vasijevic’s first scoreless game since Miami’s win over Louisville, January 24, 2018.

Larranaga could have been making an effort to get more size into the game. With Izundu and Waardenburg in the game, Lawrence is able to play his more natural position of small forward. The Cavaliers built their big rebounding edge in the first half with a 25-11 advantage on the boards before halftime.

DeAndre Hunter led three Cavaliers in double figures with 14 and added six rebounds. Mamadi Diakite had 11 and six and Kyle Guy had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Jack Salt led the Cavaliers with nine rebounds and also contributed seven points. Virginia was missing their third-leading scorer Ty Jerome.

Miami hosts Notre Dame on Wednesday night before traveling to North Carolina next Saturday, The loss to Virginia drops Miami into last place in the ACC. Notre Dame defeated Boston College on Saturday to improve to 2-7 in the conference. Wake Forest who is 1-7 in the ACC plays at 2-5 Clemson Sunday.

Miami’s schedule eases up after their trip to Chapel Hill. The Hurricanes will play four straight games against unranked teams before traveling to Durham to play number two Duke March 1. It is the Hurricanes only meeting against the Blue Devils super Freshmen Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett this season.