BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team began the week in third place in the ACC with a 5-3 league mark. The Hokies were riding a three-game winning streak and dreaming of the NCAA tournament.

That dream seems much less realistic now. The Hokies dropped their second straight game Saturday, falling to Miami 74-71 at Cassell Coliseum.

"At home, you don't want to lose," said A.D. Vassallo, who had 19 of his season-high 24 points in the second half. "Those are the games that you definitely don't want to lose, that kind of get you off the tournament [bubble]."

The Hokies (14-10, 5-5), who lost at North Carolina State on Tuesday, could be headed for a four-game skid. Their next two games are on the road against North Carolina and Maryland.

"We're just not executing as good as we can for 40 minutes," Vassallo said. "We do a good job for 25, maybe 30. And then 10 minutes, we just play terrible. And that terrible 10 minutes allows the other team to get a good lead."

"Our freshmen might be a little bit overwhelmed with the intensity and the length of the season," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

If Tech is relegated to the NIT, this will be one of the games it recalls with regret. Miami (16-7, 3-6) had lost 11 straight ACC road games since a January 2007 win at Maryland, including four this season. But the Hurricanes led the entire second half Saturday.

"Once you get that high up in the [standings], people are going to give you their best game," said Tech's Jeff Allen, who had 16 points. "They did, and we didn't step up to the plate."

Greenberg said Miami was a "desperate team." Miami had lost six of its past seven games, including the last three.

Tech's Deron Washington, who was 3-of-9 from the field, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Hokies, who trailed by 10 points with less than three minutes to go, fell to 6-6 in games decided by six or fewer points or by overtime.

"I thought for sure we'd at least get it into overtime," said J.T. Thompson, who had 10 points. "That's usually how it works for us, but we couldn't do it this time.

"They played a little harder than us."

Miami guard Jack McClinton had 15 of his 19 points in the second half, when the Hurricanes shot 58.3 percent from the field.

Eddie Rios became the latest ACC point guard to have a surprisingly good game against the Hokies. Rios, a freshman reserve who had been averaging 3 points, had 11 of his career-high 14 points in the second half.

Rios and McClinton combined for six 3-pointers, including five in the second half.

"Jack got loose in the second half; he had a tough time getting away from them in the first half," UM coach Frank Haith said. "We were rushing shots ... earlier in the game. Second half, we had better movement."

The Hokies shot 63 percent from the field in the second half but were outrebounded for the second straight game (35-20).

"They played a little bit more physical," Allen said.

As was the case Tuesday, the Hokies didn't get to the free-throw line too often. Miami was 21-of-25 from the line; Tech was 8-of-12.

Tech cut a 10-point lead down to 50-47 with 8:39 left, but McClinton and Rios combined for three 3-pointers to help Miami extend the lead to 63-53.

Tech trailed 65-55 with less than three minutes to go but cut the deficit to 65-61 with 2:04 left.

It looked like the Hurricanes would be whistled for not getting the ball past half court in 10 seconds. Miami called a timeout with 25 seconds left on the shot clock. Greenberg wanted a turnover called, but instead another second was put back on the clock.

Vassallo made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 68-64, but Lance Hurdle sank two free throws. Hank Thorns sank a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 70-67 with 18.2 seconds left, but Rios made two free throws. After Vassallo made two free throws, Rios made one of two foul shots.

After Thorns made a layup to cut the lead to 73-71 with 3.6 seconds left, Jimmy Graham made one of two foul shots.

Miami MP FG FT R A F PT

Collins 19 3-7 2-2 5 0 0 8

King 25 2-8 2-2 11 1 2 6

Hurdle 20 1-4 3-4 3 2 4 5

Dews 24 3-5 0-0 3 1 2 7

McClinton 34 6-13 4-5 1 1 1 19

Graham 18 0-2 3-4 7 1 3 3

Rios 18 4-7 3-4 0 1 1 14

Asbury 24 3-4 4-4 3 0 0 10

Hicks 18 1-3 0-0 1 0 4 2

Totals 200 23-53 21-25 35 7 17 74

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Allen 39 7-8 1-2 7 0 3 16

Washington 37 3-9 3-5 2 4 4 9

Thompson 15 4-6 2-3 1 0 3 10

Vassallo 37 9-15 2-2 2 3 3 24

Delaney 32 3-8 0-0 3 5 4 7

Bell 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

Thorns 21 2-4 0-0 1 4 2 5

Witcher 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Diakite 12 0-1 0-0 3 0 1 0

Totals 200 28-51 8-12 20 16 21 71

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Miami 28 46 -- 74

Virginia Tech 26 45 -- 71

3-point goals: Miami 7-16 (Hurdle 0-2, Dews 1-2, McClinton 3-7, Rios 3-5), VT 7-16 (Allen 1-2, Washington 0-1, Vassallo 4-7, Delaney 1-3, Thorns 1-3).

Turnovers: Miami 18 (McClinton 4), VT 14 (Washington 3, Vassallo 3).

Blocked shots: Miami 2 (Collins 1, King 1), VT 3 (Allen 1, Thompson 1, Diakite 1).

Steals: Miami 9 (Collins 2, Dews 2, Rios 2), VT 8 (Allen 3).

Officials: Valentine, Nestor, Natili.

Attendance: 9,847.