So I’m sick and tired (literally and figuratively) so I hope you’ll forgive the brevity of this bad boy.
In a carbon copy of so, so many games this year, Wake Forest refused to really go away, even when it seemed like Miami would walk away with it, but despite the hustle and fight, it was just too little too late. Miami went up 10 in the first, and the Deacs cut it to 4 at the break. The Deacs briefly took leads in the second half, and Miami exploded late, going up double digits. At one point, inside of a minute to go, the Deacs cut it to three and NEARLY stole the inbounds, making me feel foolish for starting this recap early. But Miami did enough to hang on, hitting free throws barely at a clip necessary to keep the lead.
I wouldn’t say the game was devoid of good play by the Deacs. I mean it ended up a 6 point game on the road to a ranked team. We were down double digits in the first half and took a lead in the second. But honestly, unless our backs are really against the wall, our effort is, shall we say, excrement poor. I don’t get it. We’re CAPABLE of playing winning basketball, we just don’t do so enough. That’s why I say it’s different from a Bzdelik squad. They just couldn’t play winning basketball. But honestly the fact that we can and choose not to might make it worse. I don’t know.
Chaundee Brown was fantastic, getting 20 points on 8-14, 2-4 from deep. Bryant Crawford led all scorers with 23 points on a vexing 7-17, 5-8 from deep, and even worse 4-8 from the line. BC also picked up a dumb technical after he gave Wake a 1 point lead in the second half off a strong drive wherein he was upset a foul wasn’t called when he was driven into the stanchion.
Lonnie Walker led the Hurricanes with 20 points on 5-11 shooting, 6-7 from the line. Miami honestly feasted at the line, getting 26 points on an insane 37 tries. There were also far too many wide open threes but what else is new?
Could have been worse, could have been a lot better. I don’t like saying it, but this team can be good but also manages to be really dumb and, at times, lazy. I hope Bryant goes on a spirit walk or something during the off-season, because honestly if we had Sophomore or even Freshman Bryant Crawford, I genuinely believe we’d have won at least 3 more games this season. Is it all on one man? No, but your starting Junior PG should be a closer, and Bryant sort of is, but only when closing already massive gaps.
I’m off to drink more ginger ale and have more lozenges. On to the next.
