Miami basketball has too many late mistakes in loss at Pittsburgh
Too many mistakes in the final minutes led to the Miami basketball team losing 62-57 at Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Hurricanes played without junior guards Chris Lykes and Kameron McGusty.
The Miami basketball team nearly overcame a nine-point halftime deficit in a 62-57 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. Too many missed opportunities in the final few minutes cost the Hurricanes a chance at a victory against the Panthers. With the loss, Miami falls to 11-10 overall and 3-9 in the ACC.
A multitude of factors led to the Hurricanes loss. Miami waited too long to get into their offense late in the game, the missed front end of a one and one down one from Dejan Vasiljevic who had missed only three free throws on the season and Pittsburgh making big shots led to the Hurricanes fifth loss in their last six games.
Freshmen Isaiah Wong and Harlond Beverly started in place of juniors Chris Lykes and Kameron McGusty. Lykes missed his third straight game and McGusty sat out two of the last three with injuries. Wong continued to play well with 15 points on 5-6 from the floor and 2-2 on three-point attempts.
Center Rodney Miller continued his assertive play with 16 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and a block. Beverly and Vasiljevic also scored in double figures with 11 each. The Miami basketball team received no help off the bench as the starters scored all the points. Pittsburgh only had four off the bench.
Xavier Johnson took over the game late for the Panthers. Johnson scored seven of his 13 points in the final 2:25. A three-point shot by Johnson with 2:25 remaining put Pittsburgh up 54-53. The Panthers held on to the lead the remainder of the game. Johnson overcame a 6-18 performance from the floor with 13 points and six assists.
Next. Miami basketball plays Pitt without Lykes and McGusty. dark
Miami did a great job defensively on the Panthers’ four best players. Johnson, Justin Champagnie, Trey McGowans and Au’Diese Toney. Those four combined to shoot 20-58 from the floor. McGowans led Pittsburgh with 17 and Toney had 15. Miami hosts North Carolina State on Wednesday night who they lost to 80-63 last month.