Undermanned Miami Hurricanes storm back late with 11-0 run but fall short at No. 9 North Carolina, 75-71

It was perhaps a little bit a case of winning the battle but not the war for the loss-weary Miami Huricanes on Monday night at No. 9 North Carolina, a game that saw the Canes fall, 75-71. Because UM, now losers of seven in a row, battled back from a 14-point deficit with under seven minutes to play and closed the gap to two with 1:32 remaining after a Kyshawn George three-pointer.

After a North Carolina miss it was Norchad Omier with a chance to give the Canes the lead for the first time since the game’s first five minutes … but his three-pointer with 46 seconds to go was off the mark. Miami did have one more chance down three after Armondo Bacot missed a pair of free throws – Bensley Joseph was fouled on purpose with five seconds left and made the first and missed the second on purpose, but UNC got the rebound and the ensuing foul and free throws iced the outcome.

So go ahead and add another dose of misery for Miami hoops, which falls to 15-14 overall and 6-12 in ACC play. It was painful on and off the court, as the team was also missing starters Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar, both out due to injury.

Miami started Christian Watson and Bensley Joseph with Pack and Poplar out. Joseph enjoyed a particularly strong game – he had 21 points (5 of 8 threes). The team’s leading scorer was Omier with 22, and he hit four of nine threes before fouling out, showing his long range ability. George was hot early and had 14 points, while Matthew Cleveland struggled with three of 12 shooting and had 10 points. Watson was one-for-six from the floor with two points.

The Canes struggled to contain RJ Davis, who had a career-high 42 points on 14 of 22 shooting (7 of 11 threes).

“That was a valiant effort on our part, but RJ Davis had the answer every time we made a run,” head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “Our guys fought very hard. We fell behind late in the game but still made a tremendous effort to come back and made it a very exciting ending.”

The Canes stayed in the game early. Despite having its last lead with 15:32 to go in the first half, Miami only trailed by two points until an Davis three-pointer sent the teams to the locker room with the Canes behind, 37-32. North Carolina quickly pulled away in the second half, with a Davis jumper and Bacot layup making it a nine-point lead and bringing on a Larranaga timeout less than a minute in. After getting within five, a 7-0 UNC run made it a 50-38 game, and the deficit grew to 14 off a Tar Heels 8-0 run sparked by a pair of Davis threes.

Then, in a span of two minutes starting at the 3:33 mark, the Canes went on a 11-0 run that included three-pointers from Omier, Joseph and George, cutting it to two. That set up the exciting finish, which was aided in part by the Tar Heels missing five of their eight free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds of the game.

Miami now has just two regular season games remaining – the home finale against Boston College March 6 and then at Florida State March 9.

The ACC Tournament follows, which will likely be the end to a rough season for Larranaga and his team after their exciting runs to the Elite Eight and Final Four the last two seasons.