The Bulls lose in the first round for the second straight year.
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For Miami, this is a great result for a team that fought to within a game of both the ACC regular season and conference tournament titles.
The game started very well for Buffalo.
Miami had trouble with Buffalo’s defense in the early minutes.
“I feel like we gave it all that we had and we just came up short”, said guard C.J. Massinburg. The Miami Hurricanes average 75.6 points per game and shoot 36% from the 3-point line.
Despite the positive start, there were some warning signs for the Bulls.
“I thought it was an awesome game”.
McClellan scored in double figures for the 21st consecutive game, finishing with 20 points.
We all know how Angel’s performances can sway the team’s as a whole, but all the redshirt senior needs to do is play within himself like he did in his run out of halftime against Virginia Tech in DC. This UM vs UB game should be a good one as these teams are fairly evenly matched despite their seeding differential. The Canes tied it at 25 on a steal followed by a layup from sophomore guard Ja’Quan Newton, and then took the lead 37 seconds later on an alley-oop from Newton to junior guard Davon Reed.
In the second half, the Bulls watched as their deficit slowly grew increasingly larger. The Hurricanes earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Looking ahead to bigger and better games? Lamonte Bearden hit a three to bring the Bulls within four at the two-minute mark, but Miami made enough free throws down the stretch to stave off the upset.
What makes March Madness so captivating is the fact a team like Miami, who has put three years into this one moment, could assert themselves into the record books with a historic run or lose in one game that dashes the dreams of student-athletes who hoped for so much more.
Unfortunately, the Bulls came away empty on that key possession, as Hamilton lost the ball out of bounds. The Bulls don’t shoot well from beyond the arc – just above 33% – so getting into a shootout with Miami could be a death knell. Bearden added 19 points but needed 16 shots to get them. Kamari Murphy had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Skeete, whose three opened the scoring for Buffalo, did not score again. The Hurricanes are also strong performers as the favorite, particularly a lopsided favorite. They score a lot of points – Rodriguez had 24, McClellan 20 against Buffalo – but it’s more than that.
Buffalo (20-15) jumped out to an early 12-4 not even five minutes into the game when forward Nick Perkins drained his third three and the team’s fourth in five attempts.
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The victor of this game will face the victor of No. 6 Arizona and No. 11 Wichita State on Saturday.
