Wake Forest @ Miami preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 26, 2019 ) Miami-Florida 75, Wake Forest 76

Both Wake Forest and Miami were one-and-done in last season's ACC tournament and the two teams struggled down the stretch entering this year's event. They both hope for a quick turnaround when the 13th-seeded Demon Deacons take on the 12th-seeded Hurricanes on Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., with the winner slated to play No. 5 seed Virginia Tech in the second round.

Miami and Wake Forest split the first two meetings, with each winning at home as the Hurricanes came away with a 76-65 triumph in January and the Demon Deacons returned the favor with a 76-75 victory two weeks ago. Miami likely looks back at that loss as one that got away, as the Hurricanes went cold in the second half, missing their final 10 shots while blowing a 10-point advantage in the final two minutes. "I thought the biggest takeaway from this game was that our guys continued to battle and fight," Wake Forest head coach Danny Manning told reporters afterward. "We had some guys make some really big shots for us down the stretch, and I'm just proud of the effort and the grit of the guys who continued to battle. Everybody that played came in and did a pretty good job for us. I'm just really happy and proud of the guys for their fight." Wake Forest is 5-12 in ACC tournament games in Charlotte, while Miami won at least one tournament game in six of head coach Jim Larranaga's first seven seasons and 11 of 14 seasons overall.

TV: Noon ET, ESPN

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (11-19, 4-14 ACC): The Demon Deacons lost three straight to end the season, scoring fewer than 60 points in two of those setbacks, including a 65-57 loss to Florida State in the finale. Wake Forest especially had problems from the 3-point line (17.6 percent) against the Seminoles, just as it did in the loss to Miami (21.2 percent), although the Demon Deacons hit 34.6 percent of their long-range shots in the win over the Hurricanes. Guards Brandon Childress and Chaundee Brown carried the squad to the victory over Miami, each scoring 21 points, with Brown also producing his first career double-double with a career-high 14 rebounds.

ABOUT MIAMI (13-17, 5-13): The Hurricanes closed out the regular season with an 84-70 loss to Virginia Tech, despite four players scoring at least 14 points. Senior guard Anthony Lawrence II came up big with his fourth double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) in the last five games, one of which came against Wake Forest (14 points, 12 rebounds), while sophomore guard Chris Lykes produced a career-high nine assists and led the team with 16 points. Lykes, who paced Miami during the regular season with 16.2 points per game, averaged 25.5 in the two meetings with Wake Forest.

TIP-INS

1. Wake Forest has a 12-10 advantage in the all-time series.

2. Miami won the only previous ACC tournament meeting, as the 12th-seeded Hurricanes upset the fifth-seeded Demon Deacons 83-62 in 2010.

3. All four of Wake Forest's ACC wins this season came on a Tuesday.

PREDICTION: Miami 69, Wake Forest 65