The Miami Hurricanes Went On A 27-12 Run & Still Lost

The Miami Hurricanes Fought Like Hell & Still Lost — Louisville Hangs On 92-89 In A Game That Didn’t Have To Go This Way

Let’s be real, the Miami Hurricanes didn’t lose this game with the Tre Donaldson turnover.

Nah, they lost this game in the first 10 minutes. Then they spent the rest of the entire game playing catch up, which they almost did, but almost isn’t good enough.

Coach Jai Lucas said it himself after the game
“The game is lost in the first 10 minutes, just with how we came out defensively.” And he’s right. For this Hurricanes defense, allowing 46 points at half, especially on Senior Day inside the Watsco Center, and letting Ryan Conwell cook for 18 of his 24 before halftime, you’ve already made your bed.

Well, really you didn’t make it up.

That second half though, it was just Miami trying not to sleep in it.

The fact Louisville shot 61% from the field, it just signaled they were on some other s**t this day.

Maybe the Hurricanes were smelling themselves after being ranked No.22 this week. But honestly, sixty-one percent? It’s not a bad defensive performance, it’s a nightmare. Like Nightmare on Elm Street, type of nightmare.

Louisville played spoiler, and Miami played spoil. Louisville were getting threes, getting paint touches, and Miami just wasn’t locked in the way they needed to be on senior day of all days.

Forward, Shelton Henderson put it plainly, “We knew coming in that they shoot the ball at a high level. And I think sometimes defensively we weren’t as disciplined as we wanted to be.” That’s a polite way of saying the first half was rough and everybody in the building knew it.

In spite of the difficulty they came back. Down double digits, in front of a packed building on spring break weekend, this team went on a 27-12 run and actually took the lead late. That’s not nothing. That’s a team with real character.

The Second Half Was Different & The Building Was Loud As Hell

Finally the physicality showed up when Miami decided to wake up from the nightmare.

They started getting downhill, getting to the line, and making Louisville uncomfortable in ways the first half never suggested was coming. Malik Reneau went 14-for-whatever from the foul line and finished with 18. Tru Washington had 12. And Tre Donaldson? Twenty-five points and he was doing everything he could to will this team to a win.

Shelton’s tip-in to take the lead had the Watsco Center absolutely losing its mind. He described the moment after: “I think we were trying to get a timeout. We didn’t get it off. But just going down the court, we tried to get a stop at the best level we could.” That play was pandemonium. That was the moment where you genuinely believed Miami was going to pull this off.

And the free throw shooting, which hasn’t exactly been Miami’s calling card this season — was actually solid when it mattered. Shelton addressed it directly: “We’ve worked on it every day. Malik made 14 free throws. We get to the line a lot, we know we’ve got to knock them down.”

Lucas was also clear about what changed at halftime: “At halftime, it was just about guarding and having some pride. I didn’t think we had great pride, and then they showed great pride.” That’s coaching. That’s a guy who knows how to get his team to respond.

The Ending Was Brutal & Now Everyone’s Locked In On Charlotte

Adrian Wooley decided today, and this moment would be his spoiler moment as he hit a three with 18.4 seconds left.

That’s the whole story. Louisville was done, Miami had just taken the lead, the building was rocking — and then Wooley just stepped up and ended the conversation. After that, Tre turned it over on the next possession and that was basically the game.

“I’m probably the worst sore loser in the world, so that’s settling in right now. But learning from it, I feel like, is the biggest thing…The play was to clear out one side. He stuck his foot out and I tripped over it a little bit. I just tried to get it to Malik so I didn’t fall to the ground with it.”

Brutal. Just brutal. And Tru Washington’s halfcourt buzzer try hit the rim twice and bounced out. Somebody write a country song about this game.

Here’s the bigger picture though — this loss doesn’t change much. Miami is still one of the best teams in the country. They won 24 games and still have the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament. They still finished 13-5 in one of the best conferences in the country. Lucas made sure his guys understood that in the locker room: “To win 24 games with 12 new people, to finish in the top three of the ACC, to get a double bye with a league that’s getting eight, nine, ten teams in the tournament — is impressive.” That’s facts.

And he went to bat for his guys on the awards conversation too, which was good to hear: “I would hate to see if we finish third and we don’t have somebody on every team. Malik on first team, Trey should be somewhere first team, second team. Ernest should either be defensive player of the year or all defense. True should be sixth man of the year, all defense. Sheldon should be on all freshman team.” Hard to argue with any of that.

Now it’s Charlotte. Now it’s win or go home. And if Louisville is who they see in the quarterfinals — potentially with a healthy Kaleb Brown back — it’s going to be a different game. Trey said it best about what this team is focused on b heading in: “Defense. Starting games the right way with a high sense of urgency.” One word. That’s all you need to know about where Miami’s head is at.

The regular season is done.

The Hurricanes have unfinished business and a tournament to get to.