Virginia @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 2, 2019 ) Miami-Florida 46, Virginia 56

Virginia extended its winning streak to six Saturday as the 22nd-ranked Cavaliers took down then-No. 7 Duke 52-50 at home. Virginia now heads south to Miami on Wednesday to face a Hurricanes team returning home from a disappointing 1-2 road swing.

With their upset victory, the Cavaliers continued their surge back into contention after a miserable stretch in January when they lost four of five games and now, with nine wins in the last 10, Virginia is still alive in the race for the ACC title. “Losing taught us a lot of things,” said Virginia forward Mamadi Diakite, who hit the go-ahead layup in the final minute of the win over Duke. “A month ago we were supposed to be done. ... That's what people were saying, but we just put our head down and focused on what we could control.” The Cavaliers have a huge battle with ACC leader Louisville looming in the regular-season finale, but they can't overlook a Hurricanes squad that's 8-4 at home and has scoring potential despite a miserable showing last time out with a season-low 24 points in the first half of a 63-57 loss to Georgia Tech. “We’re just trying to regroup after a couple of tough losses after a run of three wins,” said Hurricanes center Rodney Miller, referring to the team's back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Georgia Tech. “The season is not over.”

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ACC Network

ABOUT VIRGINIA (21-7, 13-5 ACC): Big man Jay Huff came up huge in the win over Duke, coming up just shy of a triple-double with 15 points, a career-high 10 blocks, including one in the final seconds to preserve the win, and nine rebounds to spur the Cavaliers. Diakite and Braxton Key each totaled 14 points, but it was the nation's best scoring defense (52.7 per game) that was the difference in the game, holding the Blue Devils to their lowest point total in the series since 1981 (47) and tying their lowest point total in any game in the last 10 seasons. Along the way, Virginia frustrated Duke's shooters, limiting them to just 30.5 percent accuracy from the floor, the Blue Devils' worst field goal percentage in a game since December 2015 against Utah (29.9).

ABOUT MIAMI (14-14, 6-12): In the loss to Georgia Tech, the Hurricanes only had two players score in double figures -- Chris Lykes (14) and Kameron McGusty (11) -- the fourth time this season that has happened in a game, and the Hurricanes failed to connect on a 3-point shot for just the second time this season. Lykes leads the team with 15.2 points per game as he's hitting 42.6 percent of his shots, but freshman Isaiah Wong had his streak of nine straight games with double-digit scoring halted with a six-point effort against Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes' defense has been weak this season and they rank dead last in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense (44.7) and 3-point field-goal percentage defense (34.6).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Miami holds a one-game series advantage (12-11) after going 7-2 at home, although the Cavaliers earned a 59-50 road win during the 2018-19 season.

2. Ten of the last 11 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less, with two going to overtime.

3. Huff’s 10 blocks were the most by an ACC player since NC State’s Beejay Anya also had 10 on Nov. 20, 2014.

PREDICTION: Virginia 56, Miami 49