Canes’ rally from 17 down falls short

While the University of Miami football team was playing in the Cheez-It Bowl Tuesday night, the Hurricanes men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker 80-78 on the road against 24th-ranked Virginia Tech.

The Canes rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit and had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but

Isaiah Wong’s three-point attempt (4-3, 0-2 ACC) from the top of the key bounced in and out.

“That was a great college basketball game,” said UM coach Jim Larrañaga. “Our guys gave it everything they had. Virginia Tech is a very good team, top 25 team, welldeserved. … All in all, if you get a kind of open three-point shot at the top of the key to win on the road against a Top 25 team, you take that.”

Wong and freshman forward Matt Cross led Miami with 16 points apiece, including a pair of three-pointers at critical moments in the second half. Wong’s three cut the Hokies’ lead to five with under nine minutes to go, and Cross hit a three from the corner to trim the lead to 77-73 with 49 seconds to go.

The Hurricanes had no answer for Keve Aluma, who led the Hokies (8-1, 2-0 ACC) with a careerhigh 26 points.

Elsewhere: MaCio

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Teague scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, preseason AP All-America guard Jared Butler had 17 points and No. 2 Baylor (7-0) remained undefeated with a 93-56 rout of Central Arkansas. … Derek Culver scored 18 points , and No. 9 West Virginia used its size advantage to beat Northeastern 73-51.

ETC.

NFL: Josh Allen

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threw four touchdown passes and the Buffalo

Bills became the first AFC East foe to sweep the season series with the New England Patriots in two decades with a 38-9 victory late Monday. … Quarterback Jared Goff had surgery for a right thumb fracture and will not play Sunday in the season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, coach Sean McVay

said. In addition, the Rams also could be missing leading receiver Cooper

Kupp, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

Soccer: With Lionel

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Messi nursing his ankle in the stands, Barcelona fell further behind in the Spanish league after ceding its first-ever point to Eibar at Camp Nou. … Marcus Rashford’s deflected strike led Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton and up to second in the Premier League. … Alexandre Lacazette came off the bench and scored with his first chance as Arsenal won 1-0 at Brighton. … Burnley held on after a first-half goal from captain

Ben Mee to beat winless Sheffield United 1-0 in the Premier League.

Tennis: The 2021 BNP

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Paribas Open won’t be held in March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden as scheduled, but tournament organizers said they hope to stage the event later in the year.

Skiing: Michelle

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Gisin of Switzerland earned her maiden

World Cup win at Semmering, Austria, ending a streak of 28 slaloms won by either Mikaela Shiffrin, who triumphed 19 times, or