Ice Cold 'Canes drop clunker to Virginia Tech 52-45

A record 21 inches of snow fell in Blacksburg, Va Thursday night.  The chilly temperature outside was a good metaphor for Miami's offense inside.

UM could get nothing going all night long, finishing 26% from the floor and hitting just 7-33 from beyond the arc in a tough to watch 52-45 loss to the Hokies.

Rion Brown opened the scoring with a three ball but that would be it for Miami for a while.

Hokies freshman Ben Emelogu answered with a couple of bombs of his own, including a 26 footer off glass, to give VT the early lead.

And UM's inept offense would barely challenge that advantage.

In fact, the Hurricanes would start the game 1-12 from the floor, and CJ Barksdale's 3 pointer in the corner would open a surprising 15-5 VT lead.

UM wasn't just missing shots,  they were missing the rim altogether at times.

Rion Brown's defense of Tech's best scorer, Jarrell Eddie, was a positive.  Garrius Adams got a few buckets in transition,and James Kelly had a pair of threes.

Short of that Miami got nothing done on the first half and trailed19-15 at the break.

No truth to the rumor that the shot clock was turned off for the first 20 minutes of this one.

The 'Canes shot an abysmal 5-27 in the first stanza, including 3-17 from downtown.

Luckily for Miami, VT wasn't much better hitting just 7-20.

The second half wasn't much better.

Kelly hit his third three of the game to cut into the lead two minutes in.

But when Miami looked to run after a steal and Manu Lecomte was hit hard on the way to the basket with no call, it led  to an and one dunk for Trevor Thompson, and frustration began to mount.

And the shots were still NOT falling.

The Hokies stayed in zone and Miami continued to either shoot over the top of it, or drive into the teeth of it, with both resulting in futile results.

Despite the ineptitude a personal 5-0 run by Brown made it a 32-27 game with 9 minutes to go.

As the game drudged on, Adams would cut it to 35-32 with 5 minutes to go on a conventional three point play.

Eddie would answer with a three though, and Devin Wilson would follow with his first bucket of the game, essentially putting the game out of reach.

As has been the case all season long UM kept fighting, but like so many of their other close losses they just didn't have enough offense again tonight.

Next up: The 'Canes host Notre Dame at the BUC, on Wednesday February 19 at 9PM.

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