Miami’s loss Saturday at Wake Forest will hurt their case for a No. 1 seed, but Southern Mississippi’s loss Saturday at Memphis could cost them an NCAA bid. Dwayne Davis did everything he could to pull the upset by scoring 28 points for the Golden Eagles, and winning in Memphis would have given them the kind of huge upset that would have likely moved them into the tournament field.
However, Shaq Goodwin and Chris Crawford kept No. 19 Memphis rolling with 19 points each, as they shoot for a high seed in the tournament and try to complete a perfect season in Conference USA (24-3 overall, 13-0 C-USA). Southern Mississippi missed a chance to pull within a game of Memphis by falling to 21-7 and 10-3.
Miami-Florida was undefeated in the ACC and will finish the season with more road wins than any other team in a power conference. However, they failed to match up with sharp-shooter C.J. Harris early in the game, and he hit his first five three-pointers to give Wake Forest a huge lead and finish with 23 points. The game never was close, as Wake Forest won 80-65.
Nowhere is the home court more evident than in Winston-Salem, where the Demon Deacons are 10-4, while going 2-10 away from home for an overall mark of (5-9 in the ACC).
Durand Scott pumped in 17 points in the second half to try to rally the Hurricanes (22-4, 13-1), but they failed to win their 14th straight conference game.
One road loss will not stop Miami from having a strong shot at a No. 1 seed that could keep them closer to home during the tournament.
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