Hurricanes Lose Fifth Straight to Wake Forest, 88-78

Coral Gables, FL – Another game, another conference opponent loss. Hence, it has been the same old song and dance for the Miami Hurricanes this past season. The season has been a roller-coaster ride for them with the Canes playing from behind for most of the game. Their time leading for this game was only at 4:35. As usual, the Hurricanes were competitive at the beginning of the game, but once the match got to its climax, UM let this one slip past them yet again to lose their fifth straight, this time against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.

Early hopes fade away quickly

It was another close game for the Hurricanes in a first half that saw eight lead changes and four ties. However, the firepower wasn’t there for the Canes to overcome their defensive obstacles. The game started getting out of hand and Miami waned on their dynamics when WF closed out the half with the final five points. They began the next half by making four of their first five shot attempts. Even though the Hurricanes’ offense saw significant improvements from the first half (41.9 FG%) to the second (61.8 FG%), Wake Forest put up even better numbers in each half, going from 53.1 FG% in the first to 67.6 FG% in the second.

Five Canes have knocked down a three today 🎯

1H 3:25 | Miami 29, WF 34 pic.twitter.com/WQafR3nFwl

— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) January 11, 2025

Points in the paint haunt the Canes

Take a look at the box score for this game and you will find the one stat that all but certainly cost the Hurricanes from getting a win. The points-in-the-paint battle was another case of the defensive liabilities they’ve struggled with all season long. Wake Forest had a field day whenever they were near the basket, holding a 50-20 advantage. Whether it was Hunter Sallis (22 points), Tre’Von Spillers (17 points), or Efton Reid III (10 points), they all just looked nasty whenever they had the ball. Although Miami cut the lead to seven a couple of times late in the 2nd half, they weren’t competitive enough when guarding in the paint.

Post-game press conference

The one player who was lights out for Wake Forest was their guard, Cameron Hildreth. He scored 31 points, going 6-8 in three-point shooting in 38 minutes of playing time.

After the game, Coach Bill Courtney said,

“I said it before the game, we got two freshmen out there going against Cam and Hunter Sallis, two terrific all-elite players. We knew we were going to have a challenge with those two guys. Hildreth presented a challenge for us because he’s so crafty around the basket, and when he’s shooting like that, he becomes even extra dangerous because of his ability to go to the basket, his ability to make shots, and he’s a very smart player, tough player. He was tremendous tonight. I thought we did a better job on him in the 2nd half, but he’s a good player.”

I got to ask Bill Courtney for his takeaways on how Wake Forest’s Cameron Hildreth impacted their defensive strategy@LemonCityLive pic.twitter.com/UzNpM6GFpC

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) January 12, 2025

For UM, Matthew Cleveland and Jalil Bethea led the team in scoring with 22 and 13 points, respectively. Both players gave it their all on the court.

Regarding how the Canes plan on beating a Power-Four opponent moving forward, Cleveland said,

“Just coming out, playing hard. We have what it takes to win, it just comes to down to the defense on the floor, just getting stops, getting rebounds. That’s the biggest thing. I’m not losing confidence in this group or anything. It just comes down to… it’s the little things. Our offense is fine, we just got to get the stops at the end of possessions.”

Hear Matthew Cleveland comment on how the Hurricanes plan on executing a win against a conference opponent @LemonCityLive pic.twitter.com/Ya4aHFUDzL

— Ricardo Urrusuno (@RickScores) January 12, 2025

Up next for Miami

The Hurricanes already faced their most difficult opponent on their schedule in the #1 Tennessee Volunteers. However, now they must hit the road and travel to North Carolina to play their second most difficult opponent. Duke is the #4 team in the nation and is currently riding a 10-game winning streak. It will be the winless team in the ACC going off against the only one that’s undefeated. Tipoff is scheduled this Tuesday, January 14 at 9:00 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN.