Miami needed their 86-81 win at NC State on Sunday. Badly. They needed to stop the bleeding, and they did.
The numbers alone don’t tell you why. Miami came in at 2-3 in ACC play, while NC State was 3-3. But the Hurricanes were clearly trending downward, having lost three out of four, and NC State has already knocked off Duke and Clemson in Raleigh. In other words, this game had all the makings of one the Hurricanes needed to win but could easily lose.
Miami used a 9-0 run to go up 77-65 with over six minutes left, and with that momentum, they had NC State on the ropes. The Wolfpack rallied, though, scoring seven straight and then another seven straight after a Bruce Brown dunk for a 14-2 run, and suddenly it was a three-point game again.
Then Brown came up big, and that was another plus from this one. He got a layup with 1:13 left, then found Dewan Huell for a dunk with 22 seconds left that sealed it. Brown had been in a slump, scoring in single digits in each of the three recent losses and shooting 25 percent from the field, so they needed to get him going again. He had 19 points on 7-8 shooting on Sunday and added nine assists, leading an effort where Miami assisted on 26 of 34 made field goals.
With that, the Hurricanes won despite Huell, their leading scorer, scoring just eight points and grabbing just two rebounds. Miami shot 57.6 percent from the field, but they allowed the Wolfpack to shoot over 54 percent, so they didn’t give their best defensive effort aside from forcing 15 turnovers.
It doesn’t get any easier for Miami from here. They welcome Louisville on Wednesday, then go to Florida State on Saturday before playing three against teams below .500 in the conference. The ACC is always unforgiving, and while it’s not as strong as a year ago, the challenge remains. The Hurricanes ran out to a great start before losing in the semifinals of the Diamond Head Classic, and now they’re having to prove themselves against better teams, albeit with more home games as well (they only played four non-conference home games, a rarity for a Power 5 team).
And that’s why they needed Sunday’s win more than any numbers about them or their opponent might imply.
Side Dishes
Clemson held on to beat Notre Dame on Saturday, but the Tigers suffered a big loss as Donte Grantham will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee in the second half of the game. The senior forward was the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder and was shooting 56 percent from the field, including near 42 percent from long range. The Tigers are well-balanced with five players averaging in double figures in points, so it may be on the glass where his loss is felt the most.
Tonight’s Menu
A typically light Monday night is on tap, highlighted by busy slates in the MEAC and SWAC along with a few TV games.
- In ACC play, North Carolina travels to take on a Virginia Tech team that needs to get going (7 p.m)
- Maryland heads on the road to face Indiana (7 p.m.) in the first Big Ten game of the night, while Ohio State hosts Nebraska later (8 p.m.) and Illinois hosts Michigan State after that (9 p.m.)
- In a Big 12 game that might push one team or another in certain directions, Iowa State travels to Texas (7 p.m.) Later Big 12 action has TCU with a tall order of getting back on track as they host West Virginia, while Baylor hosts Kansas State, both at 9 p.m.
