UM's latest loss kills NCAA Tournament hopes

UM's latest loss kills NCAA Tournament hopes - Shandel Richardson, Sun-Sentinel

This is a time of year where teams often talk about gaining momentum as the postseason nears.

Whatever steam Miami had was quickly dispersed Saturday with a 71-66 loss to North Carolina State. The defeat dropped the Hurricanes (18-10, 4-10) to last in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Forward Dwayne Collins led UM with 15 points and seven rebounds.

"We didn't come out with the type of energy we needed to play," UM coach Frank Haith said. "We were just hanging around."

The Hurricanes entered riding the high of a victory against Virginia just four days earlier and hoped to string together consecutive league wins for the first time this season. Haith said he sensed his players lacked "pop" before the game, but it didn't show until midway through the second half.

Most of the announced crowd of 4,358 at BankUnited Center figured UM was well on the way to victory. A layup by guard Durand Scott put the Hurricanes ahead 48-39 with 12:18 remaining before things fell apart. The somewhat comfortable lead that took nearly three-fourths of the game to build was gone in a little more than a minute.

North Carolina State (16-13, 4-10) scored seven points in a 1:11 span.

"They hit two big shots and we get three missed block-outs on the free-throw line that really hurt us," Haith said. "They back-tapped it and our guards were too far back, and not where they needed to be to get position and we didn't have physical enough block-outs."

The quick spurt was the start of a 14-4 run during the next six minutes. The Wolfpack took its first lead, 53-52, on a jump shot by Tracy Smith, who led all scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds.

"That was huge," Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said of erasing the deficit so fast.

"I think we almost had like a five-point kind of play. We made up five points real fast. Definitely, that helps you. That cuts down on the stops you need to get to make that deficit even."

Still, the Hurricanes had a chance late. Trailing 64-63, Scott missed a driving layup. North Carolina State, which struggled most of the game from the foul line, hit five of six free throws to seal it.



"Some guys had it, some guys didn't," UM guard James Dews said. "Like Coach said, if we're going to win, we need everybody from the first guy to the last guy on the bench. We didn't have it. "