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Miami Basketball Looks to Build Momentum Tonight @ Wake Forest

UM sits at 5-5 in the ACC with 8 games to go. They likely need 5 more conference wins to assure a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Thus tonight in Winston Salem is a very important contest.

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

We've all heard the old adage.... "One game at a time."

And for the most part, it rings true.

Nonetheless, it is hard not to look at the Hurricanes remaining schedule and try not to project what happens down the stretch.

With 5 games left against teams in the lower half of the conference (@Wake,@ BC, FSU and VT home & away) they will have their chances to pick up some wins.

They also have resume building opportunities @Pitt, @Louisville, and Vs UNC.

A win in 1 or more of these contests would go a long way.

But this Miami squad is not good enough on a nightly basis to overlook anyone.

However Sunday's gutty 56-45 victory over Clemson did have some positive signs.

Angel Rodriguez still struggled with his shot (3-11) but played some good defense and handed out 5 assists.

Leading scorer Sheldon McClellan broke out of a mini slump of his own with 19 points.

And Tonye Jekiri continued his steller play in the glass (16 boards) and defensively (5 blocks).

The' Canes will need a similar effort tonight Vs Wake Forest (11-13, 3-8).

Despite their sub par record the Demon Deacons have pair of talented players in lead guard Codi Miller-McIntyre and PF Devin Thomas.

"Wake has steadily improved as the season has progressed, and shows a competitive spirit that they did not last year"  Blogger So Dear contributor Robert Reinhold told us.

"They opened the ACC season 0-3, but the first loss was in early December at N.C. State and the second and third losses were to Duke and Louisville, with Wake leading in the final five minutes of both of those games. They were incredibly competitive in their road losses against Syracuse, Clemson and Florida State. In each of those they blew late leads, but it's a vast improvement from the past four years in which we were simply non-competitive on the road."

Long story short, they are better than their record, and just the type of team that has tripped UM up this season,

And make no mistake about it, with an RPI of 54, Miami (15-8, 5-5) is square on the bubble.

Every game from here on out is crucial.

The 'Canes need to play their best ball more nights than not, but also find ways to win games when they are slightly off.

Starting tonight Vs the Wake Forest, the line between NIT and NCAA gets awfully fine.

Game Info:

Miami at Wake Forest

When

Feb. 11, 2015 |  7 p.m.

Where

LJVM Coliseum  |  Winston-Salem, N.C.

Television

RSN  -  Affiliates

Online

ESPN3

Radio

560 WQAM