The Hurricanes falter on the road and drop a game and a half back of first place in the ACC.
Miami’s 10-game winning streak unfortunately came to an end on Saturday afternoon. The Hurricanes suffered a frustrating 10-point loss to No. 22 Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum. Miami fell behind early and never got into a rhythm. Clemson’s aggressive defense kept Miami’s best players quiet all night.
In four of the last five games, Malik Reneau got into early foul trouble. This time, his reckless, overaggressive play on defense cost him, as he fouled out with 7:05 left in the second half. Miami’s main catalyst for points had an inauspicious afternoon and didn’t get involved in the action.
Reneau finished the game with only 11 points and one rebound while leading the team in turnovers with five. His inability to take care of the basketball spread across the whole roster, as the Canes gave the ball away 16 times. 12 of the giveaways came in the opening half.
The ranked Tigers were able to score 14 points off the turnovers. The Hurricanes’ starting unit was nowhere to be found on the offensive end. Tre Donaldson and Tru Washington never saw a spark. The backcourt duo shot a combined 4-for-20 from the field and scored a measly total of nine points.
The best performer in the starting lineup was Shelton Henderson, who scored 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field. He valiantly kept the Canes in the contest for as long as possible. Another notable performer was Ernest Udeh, who continues to impress on the glass, grabbing 17 rebounds.
The lack of depth was also exposed in this contest. Jai Lucas subbed in four players off the bench, and the best performer turned out to be Dante Allen. The freshman logged 21 solid minutes, scoring 10 points of the team’s 13 bench points on 4-for-8 shooting. He also connected on a couple of triples. Both freshmen ended up connecting on four triples.
Salih Altuntas, Noam Dovrat, and Timotej Malovic could not generate much once again. Long-range shooting has been an area of concern for Miami this season. Yes, their bread and butter is to get the ball inside to Reneau and Henderson, but this team has been in desperate need of perimeter shots to fall.
In a game in which they were playing a Clemson team that is decent at shooting the long ball, the Canes failed to answer the opposition’s blows. Other than Henderson and Allen knocking down a few 3’s, no one can find the net from downtown. The team shot a combined 6-for-24 (25%) from beyond the arc.
The Tigers opened the game on an 8-0 run and went on another 9-2 run to gain an 11-point lead at halftime. At times, Miami fought to stay in the game. After the Tigers opened up a 17-point lead midway through the second half, the Hurricanes would embark on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes.
Unfortunately, Clemson had an answer for every Miami push and soon after grew their lead to double digits again. Clemson made their fair share of mistakes and turnovers, but UM couldn’t capitalize on any of them. UM was torched by Carter Welling, who recorded a season-high 18 points for the hosting Tigers and also collected nine boards.
Clemson continued to showcase their balanced attack. Welling was joined by RJ Godfrey (10 points) and Jestin Porter (11 points) in double figures for scoring. Jake Wahlin, Dillon Hunter, and Nick Davidson also contributed by scoring a combined 22 points. Hunter also dished out seven assists.
With the loss, Miami has dropped to 15-3 overall and 4-1 in ACC play. This is the team’s first loss since Thanksgiving Day. They are now 0-3 against ranked opponents this season. The other two losses came to then No. 10 Florida and No. 9 BYU at the ESPN Events Invitational.
Now, UM’s focus shifts to its next game against rival Florida State. The Seminoles will come into the Watsco Center next Tuesday. It’ll be Miami’s first home game since its win over Georgia Tech on January 10 at 7:00 PM. The Hurricanes are still undefeated at home, sporting a record of 11-0.
Category: General Sports
