The Miami Hurricanes have lost four of their past seven games after a hot start, but they still are in contention for the top spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Miami (16-7, 8-4) will host Georgia Tech (10-12, 3-8) on Wednesday night.
The Hurricanes, who are just one game out of the top spot in the league, beat Georgia Tech in their most recent meeting, 73-62, in Atlanta on Jan. 29. Miami’s Kameron McGusty led all scorers with 20 points in that game. Teammates Jordan Miller (13 points, eight rebounds) and Charlie Moore (12 points, game-high four steals) also made major contributions.
“We have to play our brand of basketball,” Miami redshirt freshman Jakai Robinson said when asked about the rematch with the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday. “When we play our basketball, we’re one of the better teams in the ACC.”
Georgia Tech had lost two straight games — including against Miami — before snapping that skid on Saturday with a 69-64 home win over Clemson.
In that game, reserve Deivon Smith led Tech in points (16), rebounds (eight) and assists (six) in a brilliant 26-minute performance.
“You can see Deivon continuing to get better,” Jackets coach Josh Pastner said of Smith, who made 6-of-10 shots from the floor.
Smith, a 6-foot-1 guard who transferred in from Mississippi State, gives the Jackets a boost of speed off the bench.
His emergence is big for the Jackets as leading scorer Michael Devoe (18.6 points per game) has been inconsistent lately. He made just 1 of 7 shots against Clemson, including 1-of-5 on 3-pointers. He was held to three points.
Against Miami, Devoe had 12 points but made only 4 of 11 shots. For Georgia Tech, Khalid Moore had the big game against the Hurricanes, scoring 19 points on 9 of 12 shooting.
For the season, Devoe leads Tech in scoring (18.6), followed by Jordan Usher (15.0).
McGusty leads Miami in scoring (17.6), and he gets to the foul line more than any other Hurricanes player, converting 83.6 percent.
Isaiah Wong is second on Miami in scoring (16.1). However, Wong had just eight points on 2 of 10 shooting against Georgia Tech. Then, after a strong 18-point game against Notre Dame, Wong was down again on Saturday, scoring just six points on 3 of 9 shooting in a loss to Virginia on Saturday.
Miami will need improved play from Wong as well as more heroics from Moore, who is averaging 12.7 points overall but 14.1 against the ACC, which means he has been rising to the occasion.
–Field Level Media
