Canes Fall at Wake, 76-75
WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – Despite a big night from sophomore guard Chris Lykes, the University of Miami men’s basketball team suffered a 76-75 defeat Tuesday night against Wake Forest at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Miami (12-15, 4-11 ACC) was unable to get anything going over the final 10:39 of action, missing its final 10 shots from the field. Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons (11-16, 4-11 ACC) rallied from a 14-point deficit to secure the victory off a 3-pointer by Brandon Childress with 26 seconds remaining in the game. Looking to get a shot off before the buzzer, Lykes heaved a deep 3-pointer over a pair of Wake Forest defenders, but his attempt fell just short and ricocheted off the front of the rim.
Lykes led all scorers with 26 points, while knocking down a career-high six 3-pointers. Joining the sophomore in double figures were senior guard Anthony Lawrence II (14 points), redshirt senior guard Zach Johnson (14 points) and junior guard Dejan Vasiljevic (12 points), while Lawrence stuffed the stat sheet with 12 rebounds, a game-high six assists, two steals and a block. He collected his sixth career double-double and fourth of the season. Childress led Wake Forest with 21 points.
Miami shot just 20-of-54 (37.9 percent) from the field and 11-of-31 (35.3 percent) from long range, while Wake Forest finished 24-of-61 (39.3 percent) from the field and 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from deep. Despite its struggles from the field, Miami stayed in the game with its free-throw shooting, hitting 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) for the game, including 21-of-26 in the second half. Wake Forest hit 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
Struggling as a team to get anything going offensively through the opening 10 minutes of action, UM head coach Jim Larrañaga called a 30-second timeout following a free throw by Jaylen Hoard to extend the Demon Deacons’ lead to 17-8, with 10:14 left on the clock.
Out of the timeout, Lykes took over the contest converting on each of his next five 3-point attempts to put Miami in front, 32-25, with 4:06 remaining in the frame. The Hurricanes entered the locker room holding a 35-28 advantage.
Exiting the locker room, the Hurricanes continued to shoot well, hitting on 7-of-13 attempts from the field through the opening 9:21 of second-half play, including Vasiljevic converting on back-to-back 3-pointers to extend Miami’s lead to 56-42 with 10:39 left. However, Wake Forest rallied back defensively, holding the Hurricanes to without a field goal the rest of the way.
Up next, the Hurricanes return to the Tar Heel State for a battle against No. 3 Duke Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
Game Notes
• Wake Forest leads the series, 12-10. Miami is 1-10 all-time in Winston-Salem. The home team has won the last nine games in the series.
• Miami did not hit a field goal in the final 10:39 (0-for-10 in that stretch).
• Miami has held a lead in 21 of its 27 games.
• Miami hit a season-high 24 free throws (previous was 23 in season opener against Lehigh).
• Wake Forest hit 19 free throws, most by a Miami opponent this season.
• Playing in his 125th career game (ninth in program history), Anthony Lawrence II scored 14 points and now has 966 career points.
• Lawrence recorded his sixth career double-double, including his second straight and fourth this season.
• Chris Lykes scored 26 points and has reached double figures in 24 of 27 games this season.
• Lykes has 16 or more points in 18 games this season. This was his 10th 20-point game of the season.
• Lykes hit a career-high six 3-pointers, including five in the first half. His previous high was five, set at North Carolina on Feb. 9
• Zach Johnson scored 14 points and has recorded 1,676 career points (1,344 at Florida Gulf Coast, 332 at Miami).
• DJ Vasiljevic hit a pair of 3-pointers and now has 188 career triples (eighth in program history).
