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Miami Stuns Wake Forest

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A Tribune wire report

Published: February 5, 2009

CORAL GABLES - The crowd for the attendance-challenged Miami Hurricanes totaled 5,792 fans, and many of them poured onto the court when Wednesday night's game ended to celebrate their team's most lopsided win ever against a ranked opponent.

Jack McClinton scored a season-high 32 points, and Miami used a zone defense to stymie No. 7 Wake Forest, which lost its second consecutive game, 79-52.

The Hurricanes hardly looked like a team that had lost three straight games. And Wake Forest looked nothing like the team that beat then-No. 1-ranked Duke a week earlier.

"Miami played very, very well," Demon Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said. "They had their backs to the wall and played with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion."

The upset triggered a frenzied celebration as fans mobbed the Hurricanes.

"That was one of the greatest feelings I've ever had," McClinton said. "I've never experienced something like that, rushing the court. It was great."

McClinton scored 14 consecutive points for the Hurricanes late in the game to help build their biggest margin of victory ever against a ranked team. He finished 11-for-19, including 6-for-10 from 3-point range, and added three steals and two assists.

"McClinton had one of the best performances I've seen in the eight years I've been in the ACC," Gaudio said.

The victory snapped a slump for the Hurricanes (15-7, 4-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) at the start of a three-game stretch against top 10 teams. They visit No. 4 Duke on Saturday and will be at home against No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 15.

"They fought extremely hard because they're fighting for their lives," Wake Forest center Chas McFarland said. "We've got to be doing the same thing."

The Demon Deacons (17-3, 4-3) haven't won since beating Duke a week ago. They lost in the final second Saturday at Georgia Tech, which came into the game winless in the league.

Against Miami's zone, the Demon Deacons struggled throughout and shot a season-low 31.7 percent, including 3-for-20 from 3-point range. Their 52 points were a season low.

"We were relying way too much on the 3-point shot," Gaudio said. "We weren't going inside enough. We tried to shoot our way out of problems."

Tigers Blow Out Blue Devils

CLEMSON, S.C. - Trevor Booker scored 21 points, Terrence Oglesby had five 3-pointers and No. 10 Clemson beat No. 4 Duke 74-47 on Wednesday night, the first time the Tigers had consecutive wins vs. the Blue Devils in 13 years.

Clemson (19-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) used a 20-8 run in the last 8 minutes of the first to take a 33-21 lead. The Tigers extended the lead to as many as 23 points.

Duke (19-3, 6-2) had won 22 straight vs. Clemson - most in blowout fashion - since the Tigers won three straight in the series in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

The Blue Devils' run of success ended in March in the ACC Tournament semifinals when Clemson beat them 78-74. Booker and the Tigers made sure the regular-season streak ended at Littlejohn Coliseum.

NO. 2 OKLAHOMA 77,

TEXAS A&M 71

NORMAN, Okla. - Taylor Griffin hit a tiebreaking layup with 46.4 seconds left and followed it with two clutch free throws as No. 2 Oklahoma (22-1, 8-0 Big 12) rallied from a late nine-point deficit to beat Texas A&M (17-6, 3-5).

NO. 13 MICHIGAN ST. 76,

NO. 19 MINNESOTA 47

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Durrell Summers opened the game with two 3-pointers and finished with 21 points as No. 13 Michigan State beat No. 19 Minnesota to snap a two-game home losing streak.

The Spartans (18-4, 8-2 Big Ten) held the Golden Gophers (18-4, 6-4) to 17.4 percent shooting in taking a 42-16 halftime lead.

Summers had 17 points in the first half on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers and some impressive dunks as his team had 12 assists on its first 16 field goals.

NO. 14 MEMPHIS 79, SMU 66

DALLAS - Tyreke Evans scored 26 points, including eight in a key second-half run, and No. 14 Memphis (19-3, 8-0) won its 50th straight Conference USA game, beating SMU (6-14, 1-7).

NO. 17 VILLANOVA 94,

PROVIDENCE 91

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Scottie Reynolds scored 31 points and Dwayne Anderson had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 17 Villanova to its fourth straight victory, beating Providence.

Reggie Redding had 12 points, 11 rebounds and a key blocked shot for the Wildcats (18-4, 6-3 Big East).

Sharaud Curry led the Friars (14-8, 6-4) with 25 points.

NO. 20 SYRACUSE 74,

WEST VIRGINIA 61

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Eric Devendorf and Jonny Flynn both scored 22 points to lead No. 20 Syracuse past West Virginia to snap a three-game losing streak.

Syracuse (18-5, 6-4 Big East), which had lost four of five, avenged a 20-point loss at West Virginia (15-7, 4-5) last season.

ROLLINS 75,

SAINT LEO 67

WINTER PARK - Quentin Cullop and Matt Salay each scored 20 points, but Saint Leo had its five-game winning streak snapped by Rollins.

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