Miami basketball goes cold in overtime loss at Wake Forest

The Miami basketball team overcame a lot of adversity before losing 86-82 in overtime on Saturday at Wake Forest. Matthew Cleveland had a shot to win the game at the buzzer in regulation, but the shot rimmed out. Miami scored the first five points in OT. Wake Forest answered with an 8-0 run.

The Demon Deacons never trailed again after taking the lead in overtime. Miami went scoreless for 3:38 in OT. True freshman Kyshawn George had a breakout game with 21 points, eight rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Norchad Omier had his third straight 20 point game and added 12 rebounds.

Cleveland finished with 17 points and four rebounds. Nijel Pack finished with 15 points. Miami got only three points off the bench. Wake Forest was led by Kevin Miller with 27, Cameron Hildreth scored 23 and Hunter Sallis had 18. Wake Forest had nine points off its bench. Miami rallied from a seven point halftime deficit.

Wake Forest had 18 offensive rebounds. Efton Reid had 11 rebounds, Andrew Carr eight and Sallis seven. Miami was called for 19 fouls on Saturday. The Hurricanes averaged 12 fouls per game this season. That is the second fewest in the country. Miami outscored Wake Forest 36-29 in the second half to force overtime.

Miami started game strong with a 9-2 and 11-4 leads. Wake Forest answered with an 18-3 run to take a 22-14 lead. Miami fought back within 24-22 before trailing 44-37 at halftime. The teams exchanged 7-0 runs to begin the second half. Miami answered with a 12-2 run to take a 56-53 lead with 11:36 left in regulation.

Miami led by as many as four in the second half, but was never able to stretch the lead. The Hurricanes overcame the miss by Cleveland at the end of regulation to seize control early in overtime before Wake Forest flipped the script. Miami will return home on Wednesday to host Louisville.