In the first game of the post-Jim Larrañaga era, the Miami Hurricanes men’s basketball team again found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After getting outscored by 22 in the second half, Miami fell to Boston College 78-68 and dropped to 4-9 on the season.
Miami came flying out of the gates, scoring the first eight points of the game. Most of the damage was done through center Lynn Kidd, who went a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and totaled 11 first-half points. Along with him, guard Paul Djobet came out firing as well.
Off the bench, he scored eight of his 10 total points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, including one of Miami’s two first-half three-pointers.
Defensively, the ’Canes smothered the Eagles, holding four of their five starters to one or fewer shots made. This included forcing a 1-of-6 half from guard Donald Hand Jr. and completely blanking forward Elijah Strong. The one area of struggle for Miami’s defense was in the paint.
After the 8:38 mark, where Miami amassed its 19-point lead, Boston College big Chad Venning subbed back into the game and changed the momentum of everything. 11 straight points from Venning chipped away at Miami’s lead, and by halftime, the Hurricanes led by a solid yet manageable margin of 12 points.
With a decent lead, momentum and a chance to start the new year with a big win to start the post-Larrañaga era, Miami fell flat on its face. Out of the gate, Miami’s offense was a mess, committing four turnovers in the first three minutes of the half. This led to easy transition buckets, and in a blink of an eye, Boston College cut Miami’s lead down to just four.
Even worse for Miami, its guards just couldn’t stop fouling. Freshman guard Divine Ugochukwu took two quick fouls after UM’s turnovers, and within the backcourt, Djobet picked up three, and Jalil Bethea picked up two of his own. This got the Eagles to the line early, and after holding them to seven first-half free throws, Boston College shot 19 free throws in the second half, converting on 15 of them.
Miami kept trying to create separation, but the only one who had anything going was guard Matthew Cleveland.
He poured in 15 of his game-leading 21 points in the second-half and tried his best to keep the team afloat while his teammates struggled heavily. This wasn’t only with turnovers. Kidd, who was perfect in the first half, went 1-of-5 in the latter half. Brandon Johnson was blanked on seven attempts for the game, and Austin Swartz, whom Miami turned to in the second half hoping to get some offensive spark, shot 2-of-8, including 1-of-7 from behind the arc.
As a team, Miami shot 10-of-35 for a total of 29% in the second half, and if you take away Cleveland’s efforts, just a little over 20 percent.
With a little over eight minutes left in the game, Boston College held the lead after a Roger McFarlane triple. The Eagles didn’t just take the lead; they ran away with the momentum like Miami had failed to do.
Soon, Boston College’s lead ballooned to nine points, and it was able to hold onto it. Miami made scoring runs to get the game within four points, but with Cleveland being the only reliable option in the second half, it just wasn’t enough. Miami was outscored 49 to 27 in this disastrous half, and with another loss, continues this frustrating season.
Miami’s next game will be a road contest against a team struggling nearly as much as them with the Virginia Tech Hokies. That game will take place on Jan. 4, with tip-off at 2:00 p.m.