Nijel Pack records his 24th career 20-point game in the loss.
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, 76-73.
The Razorbacks shot 57.1 percent from 3-point range in the second half to complete the comeback.
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.
– MiamiHurricanes.com –
