ACC Tourney Blog: Miami 83, Wake Forest 62

Ah, Internet! Seriously, older folks, please tell me how you functioned before this newfangled Interweb. I’ve been lost all day without my precious wireless connection to the rest of the wide world. BUT ... the ACC seems to have fixed the problem that nearly had several scribes prepared to commit violent acts with plastic sporks.

Better question: How did anyone live before you could both scoop and stab a piece of food with a hybrid spoon-fork? Seriously. Thank you Mr. Spork and Mrs. Internet.

Now back to the actual basketball I came here to cover. We had another upset in Game 2, as fifth-seeded Wake Forest was routed by 12th-seeded Miami, 83-62. And it was never close. Not ever, really.

The Hurricanes (19-12) got off to a 16-8 start, scoring on six of their first eight possessions. They pushed it to 27-15 with 9:46 to go, at which point they had scored on 12 of 15 possessions to start the game.

Miami shot 57 percent in the second half and 51.7 percent for the game.

It’s no wonder Wake coach Dino Gaudio was so displeased with his team’s defense afterward. Dino didn’t love his side’s 35-percent shooting, either. He also cannot be thrilled about three consecutive first-round losses here at the ACC clambake – bringing Gaudio’s record in this grand event to 0-3.

Worth noting, though, is that this might not be quite the upset it seemed. Rather a meeting of two similarly skidding teams. Miami started the season 15-1 and was briefly ranked in the top 25. The Canes then finished the regular season 3-11.

The Demon Deacons never had as gaudy a record as Miami, but at 18-5 they climbed as high as No. 11 in the Ratings Percentage Index. At that point, Wake had beaten five teams ranked top-50 in the RPI.

Then the collapse. Since then, the Deacons have lost 5 of 6, including defeats at the hands of each of the ACC’s three worst teams. Ouch.

The disappearing act of star forward Al-Farouq Aminu might be partly to blame. The second-team All-ACC selection, who averaged 15.9 points and 10.8 rebounds this season, played just 25 minutes against Miami. He had 11 points, seven rebounds and four turnovers.

In Wake’s last three losses, Aminu has averaged six points, seven rebounds and 3.6 turnovers. I say again: Ouch.

Making that all the more notable is that Miami was without its best big man for this game. Dwayne Collins, the Canes’ leading scorer (12 ppg) and rebounder (7.8), missed his second straight game with a leg injury.

Lucky for Miami, Julian Gamble emerged in his absence. Despite his averages of 3.4 points and 2.5 rebounds, Gamble went off for eight points, 13 rebounds and three blocks against the Deacons. Center Reggie Johnson came up big – pun intended – too. He had 22 points, four rebounds and two assists.

That pretty much covers it. The depleted Canes stepped up, while Wake shriveled. Even so, the Gaudio’s team is still likely getting an at-large NCAA bid. Miami is not. It will need to win this tournament to punch a ticket.

The next obstacle to that unlikely endeavor is fourth-seeded Virginia Tech (23-7), which split two games with the Hurricanes this season. The home team won each meeting.

Tip-off is 2:30 tomorrow. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to head back to the court for Carolina-Georgia Tech, where the Tar Heels’ tank job might continue. OR ... as this weird feeling in my gut keeps telling me, UNC could start playing like the team loaded with Burgerboys that it is and go on a crazy run here.

We shall see. Until then, here are the Hurricanes and Deacs, talking about the thrill of (rare) victory and the agony of another choke job ...

MIAMI COACH FRANK HAITH

OPENING REMARKS: “That was a great win for us today. Our guys played extremely hard from the onset. That was the way we needed to play. I thought the key to the game was our ability to not turn the ball over and to get back in transition defense. And obviously, we were making some shots. ... We had great production out of our bigs. With Dwayne Collins not playing, Reggie Johnson and Julian Gamble were outstanding today. I’m really proud of those guys and how hard they played. Coming into this game, we’ve had some good practices. We’ve had a tough year and the last game was really tough, against Florida State (one-point loss). I’m just really proud of how hard we came back and fought today.”

ON DWAYNE COLLINS’ STATUS FOR VIRGINIA TECH: “He will not play.”

ON MIAMI’S TWO MEETINGS WITH TECH THIS SEASON BEING VERY DIFFERENT AND WHAT HE HOPES TO TAKE FROM THE WIN OVER THE HOKIES IN THE SECOND OUTING: “Well, they stun-gunned us in the first road game. That was our first true road game. We turned the ball over early in that ballgame and the got it going in transition. They made a lot of shots. They really shot the ball well. At that point in time, I can vaguely remember Terrell Bell hit two or three shots – he was 3 of 3 from 3 – and he had not shot the ball well up to that point. So they really executed very well. At our place, I thought we did a better job on them defensively. When you play Virginia Tech, you better be ready to battle. Because they’re a very tough team, very physical, very aggressive. They’re going to bring toughness, so you’ve got to match their intensity.”

ON PLAYING SO WELL WITHOUT COLLINS: “These kids have just been working. They’ve had a positive attitude and have continued to grow. We’ve got nine freshmen and sophomores. We’re not going to throw in the towel because of some tough losses. I’ve got to give these guys credit for their focus in coming to practice and getting after it – which gives us a chance. If your older guys are into it with you, it helps.”

ON WHY MIAMI SHOT SO MUCH BETTER IN ITS SECOND GAME AGAINST THE HOKIES: “You know what? Sometimes, the ball just goes through the hoop. I don’t know that there’s a great answer to when you shoot well and when you don’t shoot well. Sometimes you just make shots. Our ballgame with Virginia Tech, I think we shot over 60 percent in the game. Maybe in the half, we even shot 70 percent. I don’t anticipate doing that tomorrow. But obviously when you shoot that good, you’re going to have a great chance to win the ballgame.”

MIAMI CENTER REGGIE JOHNSON

ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH COLLINS, WHO WAS GETTING HIM PUMPED UP FOR THIS BIG GAME: “Dwayne Collins is like my big brother, ever since Day 1 on campus. I talk to him all the time. I ask about certain moves and about certain things, off the court and on the court. He is in my ear all of the time, constantly giving me positive energy to go out there and help my team win.”

ON BEING FROM WINSTON-SALEM AND HAVING A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH FORMER WAKE COACH SKIP PROSSER, WHO DIED OF A HEART ATTACK TWO SUMMERS AGO, AND BEATING SKIP’S OLD TEAM: “I actually believe that Skip was watching, was going for the Deacons but looking over me also. I does kind of freak me out ... but I’m glad we got the win. It couldn’t be a better moment for me right now.”

WAKE FOREST COACH DINO GAUDIO

OPENING REMARKS: “I was really disappointed in our defense. It’s been a staple for us all year. They came out of the gate and scored on eight of their first nine possessions. I think that sort of set the tone for the game itself. We just didn’t guard them well enough to even make a run at it. They beat us in every aspect of the game.”

ON BEING OUT-REBOUNDED (39-34) BY A MIAMI TEAM WITHOUT ITS BEST REBOUNDER: “It’s easy to explain. The reason we couldn’t keep them off the boards, first and foremost, is we couldn’t keep the ball in front of us. When you do as poor a job as we did guarding the basketball one-on-one, what’s happening is you stall throughout the entire game. We’re getting beat off the dribble. The big helps, and when the big rotates over to help, if the shots miss, his guy comes on penetration (and) he’s just cleaning up second shots. I think that the main reason we did a poor job of boxing was we didn’t guard the ball well enough.”

ON AL-FAROUQ AMINU SITTING FOR SO LONG AND PLAYING SO POORLY: “I wish I had the answer for that. I just tried to play the guys I thought were going to give us the best chance to win. And I just didn’t think he was playing well. I don’t think he was shooting the ball well. He had four turnovers. He just wasn’t playing well, so I was just trying to put guys out there who’d give us the best opportunity to win. Therein lies why he sat.”

ON HIS DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE EARLY EXIT: “I wish we would come out with a little more emotion. Sometimes we don’t play with enough emotion. In this tournament or a preseason tournament or a postseason tournament ... the team that comes out with the most emotion and the most energy is usually the team that gets off to the best start. I really thought that was, this afternoon, Miami.”

ON REBOUNDING FROM LOSSES EARLIER IN THE YEAR AND TRYING TO DO THAT NOW: “We had a look in our eye earlier in the year when we had our backs against the wall where we just weren’t going to lose the game. I was disappointed we couldn’t string stops together (today). A lot of times, we’ll come to the bench and before I can even speak, the kids on the bench are saying, ‘Three straight stops.’ I didn’t hear that this afternoon. ... This whole team has to understand – and most of the year we have – that for us to have a modicum of success, it happens for us on the defensive end of the floor.”

WAKE FOREST GUARD ISHMAEL SMITH

ON LOSING IN THE FIRST ROUND FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR: “I think Coach hit it right on the head: You’ve got to set the tone. That’s what Miami did. They came out and scored the first eight out of nine (possessions). It’s usually the opposite. We usually stop guys six or seven of their first nine possessions. So that was kind of big in this one. I don’t know about the last two (seasons). This is a brand new team, different year. I know I was like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to set the tone.’ They scored eight out of their first nine, and then from there it was kind of like a snowball.”

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