The effort was there. For 40-plus minutes, the execution wasn’t.
Squandering a 13-point second-half lead, Miami dropped its Atlantic Coast Conference opener 61-60 in overtime to Virginia Tech in front of 6,270 at BankUnited Center.
The villain was Hokies senior guard Jarell Eddie, who scored his team’s final 11 points in regulation as well as a go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds left in overtime. He finished with a game-high 24 points.
Aside from defending Eddie, the Hurricanes (5-5, 0-1 ACC) struggled to score. After shooting 45.2 percent (14-of-31) in the first half, UM shot 31 percent (9-for-29) in the second half and was just 1-of-9 in overtime. The Hurricanes finished at 34.8 percent for the game.
“We’re having a hard time making open shots,” UM coach Jim Larranaga said. “It’s a great group of kids to work with, just with limited scoring ability.”
A 9-1 run built the Hurricanes a 13-point lead with 16:08 left in the second half, but Eddie led the charge back. With 1:39 remaining, he hit a contested jumper to pull Virginia Tech within three, then ducked under freshman Davon Reed and made a 3-pointer to tie it with 46.2 seconds left.
With 20 seconds left in overtime, he lost his dribble and made a step-back jumper over Reed to give the Hokies (7-3, 1-0) the win.
“That was one heck of a shot,” Larranaga said of Eddie, who came into the game tied for sixth in the ACC in scoring (18.8 points per game). He’s a major reason the Hokies, who took nearly half of their shots behind the 3-point line (and made 12 of 34), entered the game shooting a conference-best 45.5 percent from deep.
“(Eddie’s) got himself off to a great senior year,” Larranaga said. “He deserves credit for the win.”
Eddie is the kind of go-to scoring guard Miami would love to have. Senior Garrius Adams (14 points on 5-of-9 shooting) was effective offensively, but Reed and senior Rion Brown combined to go 8-for-25 from the field and put up 19 points. Freshman Manu Lecomte chipped in with seven points.
Miami held Virginia Tech to 23 points in the first half and had the edge up front, outrebounding the Hokies 50-43 and dominating points in the paint 30-12.
Forward Donnovan Kirk, who left the game in the first half with a black eye and bloody jersey after colliding with a teammate, returned to grab 11 rebounds and had two key blocks in the final minutes.
“I think we did an all right job. Just on a couple little plays, we needed it that much more,” Brown said, making a pinching sign with his thumb and forefinger.
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