The Canes Cook The Hokies, 76-70

The Miami Hurricanes beat the Virginia Tech Hokies tonight, 76-70. Norchad Omier led the Canes with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Nijel Pack added 16 points. Jordan Miller had 11 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists. Sean Pedulla led the Hokies with 17 points. Miami improves to 23-5, 14-4 ACC. VT falls to 16-12, 6-11 ACC.

The Canes are one of the hottest teams in the country right now. They are riding a seven-game winning streak, the longest active streak of any Power 5 school in the country.

Below are some random thoughts from tonight’s game.

The Canes showed some grit tonight

Coach L’s squad was not making shots like they usually do. Omier missed a few lay-ups, Miller was off on a couple jumpers, and Pack wasn’t great from long range. The defense stepped up though, with 8 steals and 3 blocks that helped lead to 12 Tech turnovers. Everyone was giving great effort and fighting to get stops. The effort continued on the boards. Miami won the rebounding battle 39-31, 14-7 on the offensive end. Omier, Miller, Bensley Joseph, and Wooga Poplar all flew in at least once to give the offense a second possession. I loved the fight I saw tonight. Completing the season sweep against a pesky rival is a great way to finish your ACC road schedule.

Miami’s late-game inbounding was..bad

I’m not sure what they were doing towards the end of the game. VT is not the most athletic team in the country, yet Miami had trouble getting separation. Also, Wong threw the ball under the basket once, then tossed a dangerous, short bounce pass to Pack that was nearly a turnover. He can’t make those mistakes. The Canes will need better execution in order to survive and advance in the NCAA Tournament.

The Watsco Center better be crazy for the final two games

I know Florida State is down this year, but they are still a rival. I have hope the fans will show up in force on Saturday afternoon. Miami cannot afford to look past the Noles before the big season finale matchup against Pittsburgh the following Saturday. The Canes still have a great chance to win the ACC regular season championship, they just need to win both home games and have Virginia slip up once. (Virginia has been so lucky lately, I can’t stand it! The refs bailed them out against Duke, then they barely survived Louisville and Notre Dame. Ugh. I have hope UNC will step up and beat Virginia at home this Saturday.)

Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images

One thing I do know is Miami’s home crowd will be crazy for the Pitt game. Coach L and the guys are going to be looking for revenge for their last loss, all the way back on January 28th. Two home games the next two Saturdays. Let’s go.

GO CANES!