The Miami basketball team missed a chance to move up in the ACC Standings after their comeback attempt fell short in their final road game of the season at Georgia Tech on Saturday night.
Trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half the Miami basketball team came roaring back and had the lead with just over three minutes remaining but were unable to hold on in a 63-57 loss at Georgia Tech on Saturday night. An 8-0 run by the Yellow Jackets in the final four mintues sealed their victory.
Miami squandered a chance to move up in the ACC Standings. Georgia Tech will not currently play in the ACC Tournament in just over a week but is expected to appeal their probation. If the probation is held up only the bottom four teams in the ACC will play in the first round March 10. Miami is currently 12th in the ACC.
The Hurricanes have two more chances to move up in the ACC Standings. Miami hosts surging Virginia on Wednesday and Syracuse on Saturday to finish the regular season., The Hurricanes are tied for 12th with Wake Forest. Virginia Tech is a half-game in front of Boston College a full game ahead of Miami and Wake Forest.
Miami Hurricanes
Miami holds the tiebreaker against Wake, VaTech and BC. The path to a run in the ACC Tournament would be a lot easier for Miami with wins over the Cavaliers and the Orange at home this week. A bye in the first round would give the Hurricanes some rest and one less game to win in the conference tournament.
Miami dug itself too big of a hole to get out of against Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes trailed 40-24 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets stretched that lead to 20 shortly after intermission. Miami shot 38.7 percent from the field and missed all eight of its three-point shots in the opening 20 minutes.
Georgia Tech shot 48.5 percent from the floor in the first half and forced 11 Miami turnovers, including seven steals. Six Yellow Jackets were on their way to double figured with at least five points in the opening 20 minutes. Miami flipped the game midway through the second half with a 24-2 run to take a 53-51 lead.
Four points in the final 7:37 cost the Miami basketball team. Junior Chris Lykes fueled the second-half comeback with 12 points, four rebounds and two three-point shots. Lykes’ classmate Kam McGusty added nine second-half points for the Hurricanes. Lykes finished with 14 and McGusty with 11.
As expected the backcourt duo of Jose Alvarado and Michael Devoe led Georgia Tech in scoring and 16 and 14 respectively. James Banks III had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets. Miami will wonder what if for the second straight season after injuries decimated them in January and February.
The Hurricanes had a chance to close the season strongly. The Miami offense was rolling until it stalled last Sunday at Notre Dame. The 57 points at Georgia Tech on Saturday night were nowhere close to enough. Now the Hurricanes face arguably the ACC’s two toughest defenses in Virginia and Syracuse to finish the regular season.