ACC Basketball: Miami sends Virginia to out-of-control spiral with win on road

By Carmine Carcieri | Feb 20, 2017

Feb 20, 2017; Charlottesville, VA, USA; Miami Hurricanes guard Bruce Brown (11) shoots the ball as Virginia Cavaliers forward Mamadi Diakite (25) defends in the second half at John Paul Jones Arena. The Hurricanes won 54-48 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

In the ACC basketball conference on Monday night, Miami stunned Virginia on the road.

It’s officially time for Code Red in Charlottesville.

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On Monday night, Miami went into UVA and knocked off Tony Bennett’s team, 54-48, in overtime, giving the Wahoos their fourth straight loss and their six defeat in their last seven games. It was a gritty win for the Hurricanes, who also deserve credit for their impressive performance, however, Virginia is spiraling out of control.

It was one thing to lose three straight games to Virginia Tech (on the road), Duke at home and UNC in Chapel Hill, but dropping a second straight home game and not scoring over 50 points again despite playing 45 minutes is borderline embarrassing.

The Cavaliers were trailing by just one point at the break (20-19) and had 41-34 lead with 3:38 remaining after a Devon Hall free throw. It’s rare for teams to rally so quickly against Virginia’s defense, but the Hurricanes were able to score eight straight points to take a 43-41 lead with 28 seconds left.

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The Wahoos sent the game into an extra period after Isaiah Wilkins made two late free throws, but a clutch three-pointer by Bruce Brown with 26 seconds left in overtime was the dagger.

Miami was led by Brown, who scored 14 points on 2-of-7 shooting, and Kamari Murphy, who had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Davon Reed struggled to the tune of 2-of-10 shooting while Anthony Lawrence Jr. didn’t make a field goal. Also, Dejan Vasiljevic had 10 points off the bench for the ‘Canes.

On the flip side, Virginia shot an ugly 31 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc. Their efficiency is gone. Their rhythm is gone. And their confidence is shot on offense.

They only turned the ball over nine times, but only Hall (15 points on 4-of-8 shooting) played well for the Wahoos — London Perrantes, their star, had just four points on an ugly 2-of-15 shooting and Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome scored a combined zero points.

For Virginia, things are looking very bleak on for the rest of the season. The Cavs are just 8-7 in the ACC and still have to play North Carolina (in addition to NC State on the road and Pitt at home) over the next three games. Virginia’s defense is still elite (it will always be) and Tony Bennett is a terrific head coach (he actually had this roster in the mix for an ACC title before this recent stretch), but their offense is so poor that UVA is starting to blow uncharacteristic leads.

This is not a top 25, at least not right now.

For Miami, they are trending in the right direction as they have won three straight and five out of their last six. With a 19-8 overall record and a 9-6 conference record, the Hurricanes would be in the NCAA Tournament as of today. And this was a huge game because other than their victory over North Carolina at home, this was the Hurricanes’ only other top 25 win of the season.

Next: Where does Virginia stand in our latest Bracketology?

Their schedule down the stretch (Duke, @ VT, @ FSU) gives them more opportunities to build their resume, but it also will create some major difficulties. The good news is that Miami point guard Ja’Quan Newton will be eligible and that they went 3-0 with their star point guard suspended.

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