Canes beats Mizzou, 80-66, To Advance To The Round Of 32

First off, I am beyond happy that we won last night, but man, free throws are such an Achilles heel for the Canes. At one point, they were 4/12, and if you make 6-8 of them, you have more of a comfortable lead, and you can be at ease with things at times. Still, they almost choked it away to the visitors, who had a home-team atmosphere in St. Louis, but Miami came through, and it feels good to get a win, especially after how the last two seasons went for the Canes. Tre Donaldson had some big shots throughout the second half, and he was the difference-maker in the game last night, 'cause if he didn't, Miami loses. Malik was quiet in the first half, but when we needed him to step up, he definitely did, and both he and Donaldson were the X-Factors. Ernest Udeh was awesome on Mark Williams (Missouri's leading scorer for the year). Williams finished with 19 points, but they basically came in the final 10 minutes of the ballgame. Miami's defense was really solid, and when things got gritty, it stepped up and got the key rebound. If it weren't for the offensive rebounding and 2nd-chance points, Miami would've lost, given how stagnant they played. Miami advances to the Round of 32 to take on the Big 10 Tournament Champs, The Purdue Boilermakers, and that is gonna be a game where it's gonna be a rough showing, cause if you're not gonna make your free throws, have a stagnant offense, or not getting back, Purdue is gonna make you pay, cause they are a really good team, and they will put you away fast. I'm really happy for Jai Lucas, cause the turnaround he achieved here in his first season is truly remarkable, and I hope he is here for a very long time. Go Canes.