Heartbreaker in Winston Salem

The Canes can't seem to catch a break on Tobacco Road. I labeled the Clemson game a must win, and it was. A victory at Wake Forest wasn't as crucial, but in a tie game with under a minute to go, it became one of those games you simply have to find a way to win. Sadly, the Hurricanes fell short.

The good news out of the 70-68 loss is that Miami has shown it can compete in the ACC. Aside from some bad play against BC and the expected domination by UNC, Miami has run with most of it's ACC opponents to the end. Hopefully the Canes will see this and use it as a confidence builder, rather than beat themselves up for losing 4 of 5.

However, it goes to show how far UM has to go as a basketball program in that Wake has fallen pretty far and yet both teams were evenly matched. The Canes solved their shooting woes and did well enough on the boards, but I would have liked to see more than 10 attempts from the foul line.

Also disturbing was that Sunday's hero, Jack McClinton, disappeared for the entirety of the 2nd half before again saving the day with a tying bucket. Unfortunately it wasn't enough this time.

The Canes will have to regroup quickly because they return to North Carolina this weekend to visit Duke. Honestly, I would be content if they show the same determination against them as they did against UNC. A win at Cameron would be a small miracle for this team, but I wouldn't rule it out completely. As long as they put up a fight, I'm happy.