Miami’s size, talent and experience were too much for Virginia Tech on Wednesday night. The Hokies fell to the Canes 76-58 and dropped to 12-16 on the season, with a 3-12 mark in ACC play. #5 Miami improved to 23-4, with a 14-1 record in conference play.
The Canes did a good job against Erick Green, holding the nation’s leading scorer to just 16 points. Green was 6-of-13 from the field, but Miami did a good job of keeping him out of the lane and off the free throw line. He hit a jumper in the first half that cut the Miami lead to 15-14, but the Canes went on a huge run to take a 38-19 lead into halftime.
With Green checked, the Hokies needed big performances from other players. C.J. Barksdale had his third consecutive good game, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds against a big Miami front line. Barksdale had 14 points and eight rebounds against Duke, and 17 points and nine rebounds against Florida State. He is looking more and more like the top 100 player the Hokies recruited out of high school.
Robert Brown added 12 points for Tech. He was 3-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. However, Cadarian Raines had just four points and five rebounds, while Jarell Eddie scored just five points and was only 1-of-6 from the field. Tech needed a good performance from Eddie to beat a top five team on the road, and they didn’t get it.
Tech hung tough on the boards, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds. Miami narrowly won the rebounding battle 31-30, and the Hokies committed just 10 turnovers. It was the ability to shoot the basketball and get open looks that favored the Canes. They shot exactly 50% from the field and 38.1% from three-point range, while the Hokies were 39.6% overall and just 18.8% from the outside.
Shane Larkin led the Canes with 22 points, while Kenny Kadji added 20.
The Hokies play their last home game of the season this Saturday against Clemson. It will be Erick Green’s final game in Cassell Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 8pm, and the game will be televised by RSN. Check your local listings.
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