Miami basketball holds on late to defeat Virginia Tech

The Miami basketball team avoided poor decision making in the final few minutes and held on after nearly blowing a 22 point first-half lead to defeat Virginia Tech 71-61 at the Watsco Center on Tuesday night to end a four-game losing streak.

The Miami basketball team used a 24-2 first-half run to turn a 17 all tie into a 41-19 advantage and had to hold on late to defeat Virginia Tech 71-61 at the Watsco Center on Tuesday night to break a four-game losing streak. Virginia Tech got as close as four in the second half with the ball.

For the second straight home game, Miami almost lost a big lead late. The Hurricanes wasted a nine-point lead with three minutes left in regulation in an overtime defeat to Florida State in their last game in Coral Gables. The Hokies had the ball down 63-59 with 45 seconds left before Harlond Beverly had a pivotal steal.

Wabissa Bede of Virginia Tech was called for an intentional foul on what would have been a breakaway layup. Beverly made both free three throws and followed with a layup to put Miami up eight and ice the game. The Hurricanes led 44-25 at halftime. The Hokies were not able to cut the lead to single digits until the final two minutes.

Missed free throws plagued Miami down the stretch. Sam Waardenburg and Dejan Vasiljevic both missed the front ends of one and ones in the last two mintues with the Hurricanes clinging to the lead. Virginia Tech had its own pair of misses in the final two minutes. Miami additionally had four turnovers in the final three minutes.

The Hurricanes did have a fighter’s mentality in front of a sparse home crowd. Playing without Chris Lykes, four Miami players finished in double figures. Vasiljevic bounced back from a tough game at North Carolina on Saturday. The Australian scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Beverly scored 13 and had six assists.

Rodney Miller nearly added another double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds and freshman Isaiah Wong scored 10. Beverly had an excellent all-around game against Virginia Tech. The freshman added three rebounds, three steals and shot 4-8 from the floor. Miami did return two key players on Tuesday night.

Junior Kam McGusty who is the third leading scorer for the Miami basketball team scored three points in 22 minutes after sitting out with Lykes in Saturday’s loss at North Carolina. Junior forward Keith Stone played his first game since re-aggravating a knee injury he suffered last season at Florida. Stone didn’t score in nine minutes.

Miami is off until Sunday when they play a noon matinee at Pittsburgh preceding the Super Bowl. The Hurricanes road trip to play the Panthers was an odd choice of scheduling with the Super Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. Miami defeated Pittsburgh at the Watsco Center earlier this month.