'Canes Collapse Against Indiana State and Complete Trip of Horrors; Lose 57-55 in OT

With a 7-point lead and roughly 3 minutes left in the game, the 'Canes withered and fell to the Sycamores 57-55 in OT. Thus, the Trip of Horrors to Hawaii was officially over. The 2012 Diamond Head Classic started with a ton of promise and ended like this:

Hippo gets explosive diarrhea. (via brycehun)

First, Reggie Johnson injured his thumb in the first few minutes of the first practice and was ruled out of the tournament. Reggie is going to have his hand looked at by a hand specialist when he gets back to Miami, and that is definitely not good news. In the Arizona game, Miami was already short Big Reggie, and then Durand Scott twisted his ankle early in the game and was obviously limited throughout the contest.

Tonight's game against Indiana State was Miami's worst offensive performance of the season. The 'Canes took a goose-egg from beyond the arc, going a dreadful 0-15 on 3's. The FT shooting was equally poor, as Miami went 11-21, while Indiana State shot a sterling 17-18 at the stripe.

Miami played tough defense for nearly the entire game, and held Indiana State to a pathetic 27% from the floor and 24% from downtown. Those are numbers that result in losses 99.99999% of the time. The 'Canes shot 34% from the floor, but those 15 missed threes and 10 missed FTs were apparently enough to make the nearly impossible happen. Miami out-rebounded the Sycamores and took better care of the ball. Still, with all these numbers in their favor, the 'Canes lost.

There was some reason for optimism in OT as Durand Scott came out and converted a couple of quick buckets. But Indiana State (I shit you not) would not be denied. Kenny Kadji was fouled on his arm near the end of OT and the refs missed the call or this ugly game might have slithered into another OT.

Game Metaphor Footage:

Try not to laugh. Fail Compilation (via SeriousFailDude)

Not even the flying tooth of Justin Gant (dislodged by an inadvertent Kenny Kadji elbow) can provide much levity at this point. The Trip of Horrors took a lot out of the 'Canes. Coach Larranaga noticed his team was off well before the half. As ESPN2 analysts pointed out, Coach L had his players running the Flex during the halftime shoot-around. It seemed to spark the 'Canes early in the 2nd half, but Miami couldn't sustain an offensive rhythm.

Points of Interest: Even if the 'Canes had won, this was an awful game to watch. Julian Gamble (11pts, 9reb, 4blk) played with a lot of energy and has filled in admirably for Reggie in the starting lineup. The loss to Arizona (a damn good team) seemed to deflate the 'Canes.

Next Game: The 'Canes head back to the BUC for some much needed home cooking as they take on LaSalle on Wed. Jan 2nd @9PM.