'Canes survive Hokies 57-53, Advance to Second Round of the ACC Tourney

Miami an Virginia Tech met for the third time this season today in the opening round of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.

The Hokies won 61-60 in OT back on December 8 in both teams' conference opener. Miami blew a late 10 point lead in that one.

The second meeting at VT was a 52-45 UM loss, in a game where the 'Canes couldn't hit the side of a barn. These were the only wins all season long in the ACC for Virginia Tech.

There would be no hat trick today, as Miami survived a game Virginia Tech squad and advanced to the second round of the ACC Tourney with a 57-53 win.

Early on it looked like the Hokies were happy to see the 'Canes again as they jumped out to a 15-7 lead, bolstered by 4-4 from deep, including 3 by leading scorer Jarrell Eddie.

Miami on the other hand hit just 1 of their first 8 from the field.

But Davon Reed came in off the bench and really ignited the Hurricanes by hitting  two badly needed long jumpers of his own, and it sparked a 7-0 run and cut into the lead.

Reed's third and fourth triples of the half kept Miami close, but VT continued to penetrate against the 'Canes man defense, and a Joey Van Zegeren dunk kept the Hokies ahead 25-20.

Miami kept hustling though, and a monstrous one-handed dunk by Erik Swoope would even things up at 27, and another slam by Swoope, off a perfect feed from Rion Brown, would even temporarily give UM the lead.

Devin Wilson hit just 1 of 3 free throws after a poor foul was committed by Miami with under a second to go, to take a 32-31 lead into the intermission.

Reed paced Miami with 12 in the first stanza, while Eddie led the Hokies with 9.  VT managed to finish the first 20 minutes, incredibly, with out a turnover.

The second half started with Miami on an 8-2 run, led by Brown, who nailed a corner three and created a transition opportunity with a nice steal as UM surged ahead.

UM had switched back from man to zone, and their defense in turn, had tightened up significantly.

Ben Emelogu hit a contested three to slow the momentum and cut Miami's lead to 42-40.

But the Hurricanes were suddenly finding holes in Tech's zone, and another pretty feed to Swoope from Brown led to a conventional three point play and a 6 point lead.

It looked as though the 'Canes were in control.

Miami's offense would go stale though, as UM went 8 minutes with out a bucket, and a basket by Wilson eventually tied things at 56.

Moments later the collapse continued as Eddie put the Hokies back in front with a three, and this game started to resemble the first 2 against VT.

But the 'Canes dug deep and found a response.

Tonye Jekiri came up with  two big passes out of the post for buckets, first to Lecomte and then to Swoope and UM clung to a 53-52 lead.

A huge offensive rebound by Swoope with under a minute to go gave the 'Canes the ball back but they promptly threw it away.

Van Zegeren got fouled by Jekiri with 10 seconds to go but missed both leading to two clutch FTs by Brown and a 3 point lead.

Up 3 Jim Larranaga instructed his team to foul. Wilson made one of two and Eddie got the offensive rebound on the miss but could not convert.

Swoope would hit two free throws to synch it and Miami had escaped. Fortunately.

But as they say, Survive and Advance!!

Next Game: UM takes on the #7 seed NC State, tomorrow at 7PM.

Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: None - TEAMS: None

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