On national television, The Miami Hurricanes (4-12, 0-5 ACC) were set off to play the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (12-4, 4-1 ACC) in an early evening affair at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, FL. The crowd was fairly sized to watch this disappointing Hurricanes men’s basketball team, and once again fans left unhappy as Miami lost to Wake Forest 88-78.
En Route to their 5th straight loss, few players played exceptionally for the ‘Canes. Once again, it was another standout performance from the 6-7 Guard out of Atlanta, GA, Matthew Cleveland. He notched 22 points, shooting 8-13 from the field and two blocks in a whopping 35 minutes of action. Following a poor performance against Florida State, Jalil Bethea rebounded with a 13-point, four-assist performance.
In the early seconds of the first half, Wake Forest with the ball, Matthew Cleveland made a block on the left wing as Hunter Sallis of Wake Forest attempted the shot. The crowd was on its feet early but the Demon Deacons retained possession on an offensive rebound and Cameron Hildreth. Hildreth, the senior from England would go on to torch the Hurricanes all night, scoring 31 points and going 6-8 beyond the arc.
As the half went on both teams were trading baskets, until there was a two-minute scoring drought from the 14:32-12:29 mark. After the drought, both teams picked it back up again and at the 4:05 minute mark Wake Forest would have the slight 31-29 advantage.
Poor ballhandling and decision-making from the ‘Canes allowed Wake Forest to close out the first half on an 8-2 run. The run was led by Hildreth who scored five of the team’s last eight points including a driving layup with just two seconds to spare in the half. With 20 minutes down, the score was 39-31.
A quick dunk by Matthew Cleveland to open up the second half happened to be the only promising play for Miami. Wake Forest would maintain at least an eight-point lead until the 14:55 mark of the half. Sallis would make a smooth mid-range jumper to extend the Wake Forest lead to 10. He would go on to score 15 of his 22 points in the second half.
From here on out, it was all Wake Forest. There were times when it seemed as if Miami could crawl back into the game, but Wake Forest remained in front and ended up winning 88-78.
It only gets harder for the Hurricanes from here. Miami will travel to North Carolina to play the number four team in the country, the Duke Blue Devils. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. and will be televised live from Cameron Indoor Stadium on ESPN.