Cardiac Canes

By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

For thirty three minutes not much good had come from the Canes performance. The effort while at times solid was lacking at critical moments: missed layups, missed open shots, open court turnovers and ill timed fouls. The Hurricanes were struggling to stay afloat and fell down by 17 points at 45-28.

Then Miami made a couple of key stops, hit a few three pointers and when the lead was cut to 11 and 45-34 after James Dews hit his first three pointer in what seems like an eternity, the building exploded and never quieted down. The atmosphere at the Bank United Center was as good as it has ever been for those last seven minutes. Miami chipped away at the lead until Lance Hurdle picked Adrian Bowie's pocket and drove in for a layup to give the Canes their first lead of the game at 59-58.

After a questionable foul call gave Hayes two free throws to give Maryland the lead, Jack McClinton hit a crazy three pointer and then when Grevius Vasquez missed a three at the buzzer the place erupted. Lance Hurdle jumped into the student section and the large portions of the arena began chanting Jack McClinton. The 62-60 final score tells a large part of the story but not all of it.

Miami has now won five straight against Maryland. The Terps whose fans always travel well as usual brought a huge contingent to south Florida for this game. Gary Williams young team showed grit and determination for much of the game. Adrian Bowie scored a career high 23 points but committed several critical turnovers late for Terps. Maryland is a young team struggling to find its way in the rugged ACC. Not long ago the program was among the few brand names nationally. But now a perennial NIT team, the Terps really needed to win a game like this on the road to jump start the ACC campaign.

For the Hurricanes their is plenty to be concerned about. Much like the December loss to Clemson, Miami showed an inability to hand full court pressure. The Hurricanes also became over reliant on the three point shot in this game much like the early season win against Kentucky and the embarrassing loss to Clemson. Maryland's superior speed on the perimeter also caused the Canes trouble. Maryland despite being small was able to pressure UM's guards and deny entry passes to Dwayne Collins. DC took only six shot attempts. Expect this strategy to continue to be employed by athletic undersized ACC teams of which their are plenty, to deny Miami's greatest strength compared to the rest of the conference: post play.

But the defensive intensity Miami brought especially in the paint has been refreshing to see now for several games running. If Miami can continue to play that type of defense, the Canes can continue to make lots of noise in the ACC.