Miami Drops Crucial Road Game To NC State 74-68
Injuries have been the story of this season for Miami, and Matthew Cleveland's absence may as well have been the deciding factor in this night's matchup.
Whether it has been Nijel Pack, Norchad Omier, Wooga Poplar or Cleveland, Miami really hasn't been healthy all season. Despite the Hurricanes dominating the rebounding differential, they struggled to put the ball in the basket efficiently and dropped a crucial road game to the NC State Wolfpack 74-68.
DJ Horne has been the Wolfpack's leading scoring this season and it was the same story tonight, scoring 24 points and helping lead his team to victory. Fifth-year senior guard Casey Morsell was second on the team with 17 points.
After a scoreless first half, Pack came out and tried to do everything he good to bring Miami a victory with all 23 of his points coming in the second half. Omier had yet another double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Three point shooting was a struggle tonight for Miami, shooting 7-28 for the game. Miami also struggled converting at the rim, leading them to shooting just 36.4% from the field on the game.
It definitely wasn't a game to remember for Poplar however, as he shot just 3-16 on the night and missed two of his five free throws. After starting off the season as one of the best scorers in the nation, he's dropped off as he's battled injury.
Besides some problems with foul trouble, there wasn't too much that Miami did wrong in this game outside of not scoring efficiently. The Hurricanes out-rebounded the Wolfpack 46-31 and turned that into a 11 point difference in second chance points.
Miami will be back in action on Saturday as they place host to Virginia Tech, hoping to see the return of Cleveland to the lineup.
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