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Miami Hurricanes need to ‘regroup’ following Georgia Tech loss

Kenny Kadji

The Miami Hurricanes have now lost three of four with the latest loss coming by way of a buzzer beater from Georgia Tech on Wednesday night at home.

The once second-ranked team in the nation has unraveled the past few weeks, and head coach Jim Larranaga believes it could just be the wear and tear of a long season, according to Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald. Miami has one more regular season game to get back on track with Saturday afternoon’s home game against Clemson.

“We need to regroup,” said Larranaga. “We need to have a chance to get back physically, mentally and emotionally to a level that we feel good about ourselves.

“We have one game remaining, and we have positioned ourselves to be the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament,”
Although, the Canes appear to be the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament, they’ve done everything to give it away. Maybe Miami is tired or maybe the U has peaked, either way it doesn’t look good.

The problems didn’t just arise when Miami was dropped by 15 by Wake Forest. Miami squeaked out a win against Virginia on Feb. 19, which was aided by a defensive miscue when two Cavaliers bit on Shane Larkin’s fake to Kenny Kadji on the perimeter, leaving Reggie Johnson alone for a uncontested layup. Before that, against the Clemson team they meet on Saturday, Miami scored 45 points and still one. It took a late three from Kadji’s, his only three of the day (1-for6), for the Miami to remain perfect in ACC play.

A week ago, Miami allowed Ryan Kelly to go off for 36 after he had been sidelined the previous 13 games. Duke is rolling with Kelly back and the way Miami has looked the past few games, those blowout wins against Duke and North Carolina seem like a distant memory.

The ACC tournament will be packed with competitive games especially if the Canes get the top spot. They have the potential to take on a Virginia team that needs to get some key wins next week as the Cavs sit on the bubble. It could also end with a third encounter with the Blue Devils. A strong showing against Clemson on Senior Day would get the U back in the right direction.


Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne