Vasiljevic scores 18, Miami hangs on against Virginia Tech

Hurricanes snap 4-game slide with 71-61 win

Miami guard Dejan Vasiljevic scored 18 points as the Hurricanes defeated Virginia Tech. (Lynne Sladky, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Short-handed again, Miami finally ended a losing skid but not before some late drama.

Dejan Vasiljevic scored 18 points as the Hurricanes defeated Virginia Tech 71-61 and snapped a four-game slide on Tuesday night.

Recommended Videos



The Hurricanes (11-9, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) built a 22-point first-half lead and withstood a Hokies rally that got them within 63-59 on Landers Nolley’s layup with 1:01 remaining.

Vasiljevic missed the front end of a one-on-one with 52 seconds remaining, giving Virginia Tech (14-7, 5-5) an opportunity to further reduce the deficit. But Miami’s Harlond Beverly stole Wabissa Bede’s pass and converted two free throws with 42 seconds left for a 65-59 advantage. Beverly finished with 13 points.

“That’s what you have to do at the end of the game,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said. “We always talk about having poise down the stretch in close games. Even though we had some errors we also made some good plays on both ends of the court.”

Vasiljevic’s layup with five seconds left gave Miami a 69-61 lead. Beverly converted two additional free throws and scored a layup in the final 37 seconds.

“They were coming back up and making it a closer game,” Beverly said. “Coach (Larranaga) does a really good job of preparing us for those situations.”

Rodney Miller finished with 11 points, including seven in a 24-2 run over a 7:30 stretch that helped Miami build a 41-19 lead in the first half. Miller’s layup with 4:04 remaining capped the surge.

“I thought we played the best half of basketball we have played thus far in the ACC, in the first 20 minutes,” Larranaga said. “We scored the ball extremely well, we shot the ball extremely well and we shared the ball extremely well. But what made that possible was that we played terrific defense and held them to 25 points.”

The Hurricanes played without leading scorer leading scorer Chris Lykes for the second consecutive game. Lykes, who averages a team-leading 15.7 points, is sidelined because of a groin injury.

“This one was huge for us,” said Miller, who also finished with nine rebounds. “We needed this for our confidence.”

Isaiah Wong added 10 points for the Hurricanes.

Tyrece Radford scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting for the Hokies, who forced 10 Miami turnovers in the second half.

“Even without Lykes they have a number of kids that can score,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “They clearly outplayed us in the first 20 (minutes).”