Miami Falls Short of Arkansas, 76-73

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s basketball team fell just short of the Arkansas Razorbacks (6-2), 76-73, Tuesday night at the Watsco Center in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

The veteran Miami guards led the Hurricanes (3-5) on offense as graduate student Nijel Pack (22), senior Matthew Cleveland (15) and senior Jalen Blackmon (12) all scored in double-figures.

Cleveland tallied his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the contest.

The Hurricanes got off to a hot start thanks to Pack and Cleveland, who totaled 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the first half alone. As a team, Miami shot 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, with six different Hurricanes tallying a point.

On defense, the Hurricanes outrebounded the Razorbacks 18-17 and held Arkansas to a 41.9 percents shooting clip in the first half. Miami forced seven turnovers in the frame and turned those takeaways into 11 points.

The Hurricanes entered halftime up eight, 40-32, but the Razorbacks slowly chipped away at Miami’s lead in the second half. Arkansas strung together a 9-2 run to cut the visitor’s deficit to two, 51-49, with 13:22 to play in the game.

Blackmon extended Miami’s lead back to eight by knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Razorbacks scored 15 on the next 20 points to take their first lead of the game, 74-71, with 1:42 to play.

Down three with three seconds to go, Blackmon launched a 3-pointer to tie the game but missed left and the Razorbacks held on to win, 73-73.

The Hurricanes open ACC play on Saturday, hosting the Clemson Tigers at the Watsco Center. The game will tip off at 12 p.m. and air on ESPN2.