Three Takeaways From Miami's Loss to Boston College
In this story:
The Miami Hurricanes (4-9, 0-2 ACC) continue to struggle this season and the signs show that it won't get any better.
The team struggles with the little things in every second half when they struggle to close out games. It could come down to coaching and schemes because the effort is there. The execution is what seems to be falling short.
Second Half Struggles Against Boston College Cost Miami Another Win
Against Boston College (9-5, 1-2 ACC), the same story played out again. It is starting to become more repetitive with the number of things that go wrong each second half.
1. Guards and Defending
It's becoming apparent that the worst defenders on the team are the guards for the Hurricanes. Some like Austin Swartz and Divine Ugochukwu show flashes of great defense, however, they get into early foul trouble that levels them bench for long periods.
Jalil Bethea is starting to find his way as a defender but the biggest outlier has been Jalen Blackmon. He jumps at anything that resembles a shot and it forces the Hurricane defense to rotate into terrible positions.
Guards are controlling and dominating games against the Hurricanes and until that becomes a fixable issue, the team will struggle against a gaurd heavy ACC league.
2. Shot Chucking
Against the Eagles was a great example of what the Hurricanes continue to do when things get hard. In the first half, the team dominated the paint gracefully finishing over people and around people. In the second half, they struggled to complete anything inside the paint. The greatest trend for the Hurricanes offense is once they can't get inside, prayers begin to rain down from beyond the arch.
Chalk it up to another terrible performance from three. The team shot 5-23 and most of those shots came in the second half when they could not get in the paint. 3-12 in the second half was a great way for the team to shoot themselves out of a close game once again.
3. Questionable Substitutions
The lineups are in constant flux this season. It is hard to know who is on and off the court at times and Bill Courtney dealt with that against BC when a noticeable player was missing during the second-half run from the Eagles.
Matthew Cleveland has been the best player on the team this season and he was missing for more than three minutes during the critical run in the later half of the second half that secured the victory for BC. He finished the game with three blocks and was a defensive menace all game long. His length affected everything around him and yet he was still missing.
The Hurricanes went 10 deep on their roster against Boston College. At some point, they have to know who will and won't be playing in these close games.
READ MORE FROM MIAMI HURRICANES ON SI:
Bill Courtney Prepares Miami Men's Basketball Team in a Post Larranaga Era
Matthew Cleveland's Confidence is 'at an All Time High' Entering ACC Play
Everything Miami Interim Head Coach Bill Courtney Said in First Press Conference
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Justice Sandle is a graduate of Mississippi State University earning a Bachelor of Arts and Science in Communications with a concentration in Print and Digital Journalism. During his time in Starkville, he spent a year as an intern working for Mississippi State On SI primarily covering basketball, football, baseball, and soccer while writing, recording, and creating multimedia stories during his tenor. Since graduating, he has assumed the role of lead staff writer for Miami Hurricanes On SI covering football, basketball, baseball, and all things Hurricanes related.