Miami, Fl – The Clemson Tigers headed into today’s game against Miami with a must win mentality. With a 14-11 record, the Tigers were barely on the NCAA bubble. The game began with both teams shooting over 50 percent in the first half. In the end, it was Miami who held on to win 71-65.
Senior forward Kamari Murphy forward led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds. Murphy did a great job of being patient and getting his points in the flow of the offense. He excelled in the pick and roll by rolling and finishing on lobs and popping out to knock down an open jumper. “Kamari gave our team a lot of energy tonight”, Coach Jim Larranaga said. “He was active on defense and came up with key rebounds down the stretch”.
Miami’s backcourt also did a solid job of maintaining their teams success without star point guard Ja’Quan Newton (who is serving a three- game suspension). Bruce Brown and Davon Reed together took the point guard duties and performed well. Displaying that they are not just scorers but they can create as well, each had five assists and four made field goals.
Miami did win today but Clemson gave it all they had. They showed great poise collectively on offense and played hard on defense. In the end, shots just didn’t fall for them, particularly from the 3 point line. The Tigers were 3-of-17 from three and had many good looks. Throughout the game they gave great effort on defense but during key times they couldn’t get stops. Being down 35-33 at half, Clemson never got down more than seven points but never could get the lead either. The Hurricanes made key plays anytime the Tigers were starting to come back.
Star player Jaron Blossomgame showed why he was a pre-season all conference player. He scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and really displayed his mix of athleticism and skill. Like the rest of the team, Blossomgame was scoring from all areas of the court except from the 3- point line. Although it seems like its an end to Clemson’s tournament dreams for this season, their future looks bright with freshmen center Elijah Thomas. Thomas has looked better and better each game he has played and today was the same. He finished with a double-double and showed improved footwork and finishing ability at the rim.
Next up for Clemson is a trip to Virginia Tech on February 21st. Miami will play at Virginia on February 20th.
This article was written by Preston Guiot, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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