CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Looking for a fourth ACC road win on the season, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team had a 71-61 setback against Miami (Fla.) on Tuesday at the Watsco Center.
The Hokies (14-7, 5-5 ACC) fell to Miami (11-9, 3-7) on the road for the first time since 2018. The Hurricanes snapped a three-game losing streak against Tech, including the 71-56 loss in the ACC Tournament last season.
A bright spot for the Hokies, guard Tyrece Radford recorded his career-high 24 points while shooting 75 percent from the field. Redshirt freshman Landers Nolley added 14 points along with five rebounds.
The 'Canes were led by senior Dejan Vasiljevic who scored 18 points along with seven rebounds. Guard Harlond Beverly registered 13 points and dished out six assists for the Hurricanes.
Miami was successful in the paint outscoring Tech 36-24 in that area and outrebounding the Hokies 36-31. The Hurricanes surprisingly outscored Tech's bench 10-9. This is just the third time this season the Hokies bench has not reached double digits in combined points.
THE GAME
With 11:34 to go in the first, the Hurricanes Rodney Miller scored an old-fashioned three-point play followed by a triple from the Canes Kameron Mcgusty, which would spark and be a part of a 24-2 run giving Miami a 41-19 lead. Tech ended the first half on a 6-3 run and Miami went into the break leading 44-25.
With just under nine minutes to go in the game, guard Radford scored back-to-back transition buckets to cut into the deficit and make the score 54-43 with Miami on top. Looking for a comeback, with just over one minute to go, redshirt freshman, Nolley drilled a floater and then shortly after finished a layup to make the score 63-59 with Miami leading. Miami held on late to win 71-61.
NOTES
- Radford led Tech in scoring for the first time this season. Radford also collected three steals which is his second-most of the season (4, Wake Forest Jan. 14)
- Nolley's 14 points marks his 19th game scoring in double figures and ninth consecutive outing reaching double digits in points. Nolley also recorded five rebounds marking his 16th game this season with five or more boards.
- Tech tied its season high in steals with 11 (Wake Forest 1/14/20) and forced Miami to commit 16 turnovers.
- Bede dished out eight assists against Miami, marking his 19th game leading Tech in assists. This is also Bede's seventh game with eight or more assists.
- Horne hit two 3s against the Hurricanes, which is his second-highest 3-pointer total for the season and his most in a game since he hit three against Duke on Dec. 6.
UP NEXT
Tech will return to Blacksburg for a matchup with No. 5/6 Florida State (17-3, 7-2) on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cassell Coliseum.
Gallery: (1/28/2020) 2020 MEN'S BASKETBALL at MIAMI