Hurricanes men’s basketball fall to Clemson Tigers 76-65, lose second in a row

Freshman forward Anthony Lawrence, Jr. goes up for a shot during Monday night’s game at the BankUnited Center. The Canes kicked off the season with a 93-77 over the Ragin' Cajuns. Nick Gangemi // Editor-in-Chief

After starting the season 13-1, the Miami Hurricanes have dropped the last two games. The most recent defeat came at the hands of ACC opponent Clemson 76-65 in South Carolina on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt junior forward Jaron Blossomgame led the way for the Tigers (12-6, 5-1). He scored 25 points, 17 of which came in the second half, after only averaging 15.5 points per game coming into the contest. He was an efficient scorer as well, going 9-of-15 for the game and 6-of-7 in the second half.

The Canes (13-3, 2-2) faltered in several aspects of the game. One of the team strengths throughout the season has been forcing turnovers. The team came into the game averaging 19.9 turnovers per game. Saturday afternoon, it was only able to force eight turnovers. The Canes also struggled to defend the perimeter, another one of the team’s strengths. Coming into the day, Miami had held its last seven opponents to under 32 percent shooting from beyond the arc, a significantly lower percentage than the 44 percent that the Tigers shot.

The Canes struggled to score throughout the game, as only two players scored in double figures, including junior guard Davon Reed. Reed played well in the first half when the game was tightly contested, scoring 11 points in the first 20 minutes.

For most of the game, both teams were evenly matched with 10 lead changes between both teams. Led Blossomgame’s hot hand, Clemson went on a 10-0 run late to take a 70-60 lead, securing a Tiger win.

With the loss at Virginia last Tuesday, this is the first time all season the Canes have dropped consecutive games.

The Canes next play Boston College at 9 p.m. on Wednesday in Massachusetts.