On The Road For Some Change, Cause The Game Was Too Hard

Final Score:  UM: 73  UK: 67

STAY TUNED FOR MORE THOUGHTS AND COVERAGE!

0:23/2nd Half:  UM: 72  UK: 66

Jack adds two free throws, thank God.

0:24/2nd Half:  UM: 70  UK: 66

Can someone hit free throws, please?  Hurdle goes 1 of 2 from the line, Patterson answers with a quick baseline jumper, and the Wildcats are only down four.  The Canes have missed 11 free throws today.

0:34/2nd Half:  UM: 69  UK: 64

Wow, Liggins hits an acrobatic three-pointer to say the least, and all of a sudden it's a four point game.  Check that, referees review it, and it's a two-pointer.

0:51/2nd Half:  UM: 67  UK: 60

This is turning into one of those brutal games where the whistle sounds 250 times in the last two minutes.  Luckily, Asbury hits both of his free throws to make it a seven point game.

0:57/2nd Half:  UM: 65  UK: 60

Dews misses both of his free throw attempts.  This is not a joke.

1:17/2nd Half: UM: 65  UK: 60

Lance Hurdle misses both of his free throw attempts.  This is just dandy.

1:21/2nd Half:  UM: 65  UK: 60

Great inbounds play under pressure after two free throws by Patterson, and Dews is at the line.  Obviously he misses.  Darius Miller hits both free throws right after to cut the lead to five.   

1:35/2nd Half:  UM: 65  UK: 56

Meeks misses his ninth three-point attempt of the game, but Asbury misses the front end of a one and one.  

1:47/2nd Half: UM: 65  UK: 56

Huge turnover for Kentucky, Asbury grabs the loose ball and eventually hits a baseline three-pointer.  Hurricane Nation, breathe a collective sigh of relief.

3:00/2nd Half:  UM: 62  UK: 56

This has the possibility of ending in disaster.  McClinton turns the ball over again and Kentucky's got possession with less than three to go, only down by six.  

3:25/2nd Half:  UM: 60  UK: 52

Patterson will be shooting free throws after the television timeout on a foul by Dwayne Collins.  It's scary how the Canes have fallen apart this half, scoring only 14 points so far with three minutes and change to go.  Hopefully they hold on.

3:54/2nd Half:  UM: 60  UK: 52

Huge bucket for Asbury, who hits a long two after a Jack McClinton lay-up to increase the lead back to eight with less than four minutes to go.  UK turnover on the previous possession really looks to have hurt them, we'll see what happens the rest of the way.

5:34/2nd Half: UM: 56  UK: 52

Lackadaisical play by the Canes.  Two turnovers in a row for the Canes, and UK is only down four.  The Canes have only scored ten points this half.

5:57/2nd Half:  UM: 56  UK: 50

Wow.  This just got out of control fast.  The Canes cannot rebound right now and are on the verge of giving up what was once a 21-point lead because of it.  

7:27/2nd Half:  UM: 56  UK: 46

Dews hits a floater, Darius Miller hits 1 of 2 from the line for Kentucky, and the Canes are holding on to a ten-point lead.  That's eighteen for Dews, but who's counting?  On a side note: Shit! Looks like UF could be headed to another National Championship trophy.  

8:12/2nd Half:  UM: 54  UK: 45

James Dews gets bailed out on a foul call on Kentucky, but the Canes are reeling as Kentucky cuts the lead to under ten for the first time in awhile.  Looks like the Wildcats will be faceguarding McClinton for the rest of the half - this could get ugly, this timeout should help things somewhat.

9:01/2nd Half:  UM: 54  UK: 41

Great step back jumper for McClinton, who records his first points of the second half.  Cyrus commits a seemingly needless foul, but Kentucky only hits 1 of 2 from the line.

9:42/2nd Half:  UM: 52  UK: 40

Too easy for Kentucky on offense who get a quick bucket in the first five seconds on the baseline.  This is a rare sight: James Dews at the free throw line, who hits 'em both and has sixteen on the night.

10:11/2nd Half:  UM: 50  UK: 38

Dwayne Collins gives the Canes their first point in about seven minutes, going 1 for 2 from the line on another foul for Patterson.

10:53/2nd Half: UM: 49  UK: 38

Jimmy Graham records his 200th foul of the frame and gets taken out in favor of Cyrus here, who proceeds to get swatted with a monster block by Patterson.

11:51/2nd Half:  UM: 49  UK: 38

Television timeout comes at a crucial time for Miami.  DeQuan Jones has a couple brutal turnovers in a row, but I appreciate the fact that he's trying to create - because no one else is.  When McClinton isn't letting it rain, this Canes team really has no one to step up, and its becoming blatantly evident for the second game in a row.  Five or six minutes here with no points for Miami.

13:16/2nd Half:  UM: 49  UK: 38

The Canes are falling apart here, still up by 11 but turning the ball over and struggling on offense.  The coverage on Patterson out of the zone is ending up in easy buckets for the rest of the team, let's hope the shots start falling here for Miami.  10-0 run for UK.  

15:27/2nd Half:  UM:  49  UK: 34

McClinton misses a few wide open three looks before the timeout, including one baseline that clanked off the side of the backboard.  Ugly.  Canes are still in solid control but shots need to start dropping, because Patterson's starting to heat up.  

16:23/2nd Half:  UM: 49  UK: 32

Michael Porter just fouled out with 16 minutes left in the second half for Kentucky.  Wow.  Talk about flying under the radar with the foul count, sorry about that.  Patterson is coming alive with four points and some rebounds already in the half.

17:33/2nd Half: UM: 49  UK: 30

Jimmy Graham does an atrocious job of rebounding in the post on two consecutive possessions.

18:57/2nd Half:  UM: 47  UK: 26

Sloppy start to the second half for the Canes, who manage to screw up a 3 on 1 fast break and almost turn the ball over on a Lance pass to Dwayne.  Collins ends up at the line and hits 1 for 2.

Halftime Score/Thoughts: UM: 46  UK: 26

Wow.  James Dews adds two MORE three-pointers in the last two minutes to up the Canes lead to 20 at halftime.  More than anything else, Dews needed to have a game to get the heck out of his season long funk, and boy is he on so far tonight.  He's 3 for 4 from downtown and has 14 points in the first half.

McClinton's shooting the ball with a vengeance, and playing with some serious emotion.  His last three-pointer had the Wildcats call a timeout, and McClinton gave an emphatic chest thump after the basket.  It's good to see the team playing with something to prove.  Losing their ranking might end up benefiting this team in the long run if they can start playing with a chip on their shoulder.

On a different note, Julian Gamble has seen a lot minutes for Miami thus far - not sure whether thats a good or bad thing.  He doesn't have any points so far, but the frontcourt has been pretty quiet in general.  Jimmy Graham's got two, Dwayne's got two and Cyrus has a lone three-pointer.  Kentucky seems to be overly concerned with the post, leaving the shooters open.

McClinton and Dews have combined for 31 points, and the Wildcats only have 26 as a team.  The best half of basketball for the Canes (other than maybe the second half against San Diego) all season.

1:43/1st Half: UM: 40  UK: 26

Bad turnover for DeQuan who looked for Dwayne before the big fella tripped on a fast break.  Canes are up 14 and look to be in solid position before half.

3:22/1st Half: UM: 40  UK: 24

Wow.  What a sequence for the Canes.  Cyrus saves a rebound going out of bounds after a nice defensive play, Hurdle grabs the rebound and jets up court, dishes to Jack who hits a three on the fly.  That's 17 points for Jack already.

3:44/1st Half: UM: 35  UK: 24

Canes are doing well defensively, and McClinton's back at the line after the television timeout.  The game is going well overall, but the postgame has been exceptionally quiet - Dwayne, Cyrus and Jimmy have a combined 7 points.  

5:50/1st Half:  UM: 33  UK: 22

James Dews must be reading the blog - he hits another jumper which puts him at eight points so far.  Hurdle adds a pull-up jumper near the free throw line and the Canes are maintaining a double digit lead.  The 2-3 zone is working phenomenally well for the Canes thus far.

7:43/1st Half: UM: 29  UK: 20

Meeks is shooting 2 for 7 from behind the three-point line and is leading the Wildcats with eight at the timeout.  McClinton has 12 for the Canes, Dews has six, and five other players have recorded at least two points for the Canes. 

8:45/1st Half:  UM: 27  UK: 18

Some bad shot selection here by the Canes, with a bad three-point attempt for Jack and a bad pull-up by Lance on back-to-back possessions.

11:21/1st Half:  UM: 25  UK: 13

Cyrus hits a big three, Kentucky commits its sixth turnover and the Canes are in control here in the first half.  Patterson hasn't recorded a point yet for UK.

12:04/1st Half: UM: 22  UK: 11

Freshman DeAndre Liggins drives wild to the basket and gets a generous foul call, but the Canes are doing well on both ends of the court.  DeQuan's gotta get that jumper down.

13:16/1st Half:  UM: 20  UK: 9

Two huge blocks in a row for Gamble and Jimmy, Lance adds a pull-up jumper and the Canes are up 11 early.

14:44/1st Half: UM: 16  UK: 7

Nice defensive possession for the Canes resulting in a shotclock violation for UK, before which  DeQuan added a lay-up of his own.

16:26/1st Half: UM: 14  UK: 7

That turnover stuff wasn't a joke, Kentucky's really bad at handling the ball.  They've got three turnovers already, and McClinton's got eight of the team's first 14. 

16:48/1st Half:  UM: 10  UK: 5

There's the first stupid 'football school' comment from the amazing commentators at ESPN.  Maybe McClinton heard it and cringed, he hits 1 of 2 from the line.

17:28/1st Half:  UM: 9  UK: 5

Is this for real?  Dews hits another three-pointer and hopefully shuts me the hell up for the rest of the season.

18:40/1st Half: UM: 6  UK: 3

Wow, Dews and McClinton hit back to back three pointers but Meeks answers with one of his own to cut the lead from six to three.

5:35 PM: James Dews is still in the starting five, along with Jack, Lance, Dwayne and Cyrus.  Nothing too surprising, but apparently Coach Haith has not lost faith in his junior guard.

5:28 PM: Duck Fuke, Michigan wins 81-73.  Duke shoots 7 for 33 from three-point range but makes about three of those in the last two minutes.  That's wins over UCLA and Duke already for Michigan.  Miami's up next, more pre-game updates as they come.

5:22 PM:  It's almost gametime in Kentucky, and the ESPN game before is a good one to watch.  Forty seconds left and Michigan's up four at home against #4 Dook, 75-71.  I guess that's what happens when you shoot 5 for 1,000 from three-point range.  The cameras have had a couple clips of McClinton warming up, he looks about ready for revenge.  Then again, he always does. 

Told Me Only Few Can Make It And The Faithless Ain't Allowed

Tuesday did not get the week started on the right foot for the men's basketball team at the University of Miami. After a thrilling start, the ESPN primetime game against Ohio State went down the shitter right after halftime.  Thanks to the senior star's antics, the Canes lost their offensive playmaker and eventually the game.  Today's match-up against Kentucky looms large for many reasons.

The Hurricanes need to rebound from this loss quicker than usual with another ESPN game today at Rupp Arena at 5:30 PM.  While Kentucky has not kept up their reputation as a Top-25 team in recent memory, they have reeled off five straight wins after a disappointing start to the season with two losses to Virginia Military Academy (!) and #1 North Carolina.  After beating a few lowly teams (like Delaware State, who probably has the hardest out of conference schedule I have ever seen for a team with a name like the 'Hornets'), the Wildcats won at home against Kansas State and West Virginia.

So while Kentucky is not back in the top echelon just yet, they still pose a challenge for the Hurricanes beyond just the on court match-ups.  The Hurricanes need to show their fans that Tuesday was an aberration, and that players on the team not named "Jack McClinton" actually do have the talent to compete in the A.C.C.  The Hurricanes need to make it clear today that they are capable of playing in places like Rupp Arena while holding their composure under pressure.  The Hurricanes need to prove their pre-season ranking was not a fraud.

The Wildcats are lead by 6-4 junior guard Jodie Meeks, who is averaging 24.6 points, a big step-up from last year's output of 8.8 ppg.  6-8 sophomore forward Patrick Patterson is also building on his fantastic freshman campaign for UK, posting totals of 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.  Rounding out the starting line-up are junior forwards Ramon Harris (8.7 points) and Perry Stevenson (6.0 points) junior guard Michael Porter (3.0 points).  

UK's squad has a very similar size make-up to their roster as that of Frank Haith, so all facets of the game will need to be on tonight.  Their guards are a little taller than the Canes starting 1, 2 and 3, but other than Jodie Meeks, the starters are not must-mark guys like Diebler and Turner were for the Buckeyes.  

Eddie Rios has been re-instated after his shenanigans, and Jack McClinton is going to play.  Let's see where that leaves the Canes come 7:30 PM or so tonight - hopefully a little better off than last time after that ESPN match-up.

Where Is The Moment We Needed The Most?

Deflating.  Disgusting.  Depressing.  Devastating.  Disappointing.  Should I keep going?

Frank Haith's boys started the game like they had something to prove.  After Jack McClinton's third three-pointer in the first ten minutes, the Canes were up 16-4 with 11:46 to go in the first frame.  Team defense was on point, and so wasn't team's shooting.

The arena was erupting.  Fans were jumping up and down.  A pregnant woman in the crowd agreed with her husband: their son would be named McClinton.  The Canes had turned the corner.  The Canes were for real.

Well, that was about the game's zenith  for Hurricane fans.  Even after Miami headed into the locker room up 14 at half,  a strange sense of uneasiness pervaded the BankUnited Center on Tuesday night.  

McClinton had been ejected after his fourth consecutive three-pointer for ripping some Buckeye player's eyeball out of his socket on a retaliation swipe.  I figure that's what must have happened to earn his early ejection last night.  Word gets out that sophomore Eddie Rios is suspended indefinitely; not an ideal scenario for a team who was left with one option at point guard (Lance Hurdle) for the rest of the game.

No one was stepping up to take over in Jack's absence.  Yeah, the Canes were up 14, but they were going to lose this game if they kept letting Ohio State get open three-point looks and uncontested shots from the perimeter.  As fans headed back to their seats with napkins in their hands (to prepare for the sweat in the game's closing moments, not to wipe mustard off their pants), everyone was uncomfortable.  Were the Hurricanes really going to lose this game?  

Lose it they did.  In spectacular fashion.  

Ohio State started the second half on a 15-2 run and closed the Canes halftime lead from 14 (36-22) to 1 (38-37) in less than five minutes.  If anyone was taking an especially long time in the bathroom because they pre-gamed too hard, they should consider themselves lucky.  The first five minutes of the second half (along with the rest of it, for that matter) was vomit-inducing, to say the least.  

18 turnovers.  51 points allowed in the second half.  26.1% from three-point range for the game (6 for 23), 11% (2 for 19) without Jack's four.  So even after out-rebounding the Buckeyes by 14 (44 to 30), the Hurricanes decided to keep shooting.

I'm not sure whose fault that is.  Why the Canes weren't looking for Dwayne Collins, Jimmy Graham and Cyrus McGowan everytime down the court is beyond me.  The Buckeyes big men did not look up to the challenge of stopping the Canes trio on every possession.  Is it Frank Haith's fault for the lack of looks to the post?  Potentially.

Either way, Lance Hurdle forced up too many shots, and finished 5 for 14 but only 2 for 10 from three-point range (with one the luckiest three-pointer made in recent memory).  James Dews missed all five of his three-point attempts and finished with four points on 2 for 12 shooting.  McGowan shot 2 for 8 from the field and didn't hit either of his three-point attempts.  Brian Asbury shot 3 for 9 and missed both of his three-pointers as well.  

It's time to shake things up.  Dews needs to ride the pine for awhile until he can re-locate his game, which has been missing all year.  DeQuan Jones was hustling out there but was in foul trouble all night.  A line-up shuffle is in need after last night's lackluster performance.  When no player steps up in one of the biggest games before A.C.C. play, it's time to switch things around.  The Hurricanes' performance last night was simply not acceptable.

The Canes have a deep team.  The bench is talented.  More great players are committing to Miami.  Frank Haith is an improving coach.  

But something became painfully obvious last night after all of this progress:  The Hurricanes still cannot win against good competition without Jack McClinton.  It's sad, and it doesn't bode particularly well for the future, but after last night's game, it's the way things are in Coral Gables.

Nothing's Ever Promised Tomorrow Today

Here we go!  Almost three hours til tip-off and I'm finally headed over to the BankUnited.  Was thinking about potential signs for the game playing to the ESPN theme, any ideas?.   A little unrelated (Canes athletics are all important in the end though, right?), but what about something like this:

Earth to

Shannon: Fire

Patrick 

Nix!

Wonder if that would have had anyone's section on primetime television screens across the country.  I expect the Canes to take this one in the end, but this looks like it could, on paper, play out to be one hell of a game.