Boston College entered Saturday’s contest against Miami with the intention of forcing the Hurricanes, who usually play at a speedy pace, to play a slowed-down, grind-it-out type of game. The Eagles accomplished their goal of controlling the pace, but clutch plays down the stretch by guard Tre Donaldson (more on him later) helped Miami eke out a 74-68 win.

“We’ve been in these games a lot, especially on the road,” UM head coach Jai Lucas said. “You look at our Wake Forest game, it was kind of the same thing. Syracuse was similar, not to the degree … We’ve played in a lot of close games, so our team has a lot of confidence in that moment.

“I thought Boston College did a really good job of continuing to play.”

The Hurricanes’ next game is an important one. They’ll play No. 14 North Carolina at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Here are five takeaways from Miami’s win against Boston College:

Reneau stays aggressive

After getting to the free-throw line 14 times in Miami’s last game against California, senior forward Malik Reneau continued asserting himself against the Eagles.

Reneau scored a game-high 23 points, doing most of his damage – as usual – near the basket. He got to the charity stripe seven times, knocking down four shots. He also grabbed eight rebounds, three of which were on the offensive glass. 

Turnovers were the one area in which Reneau struggled. He gave the ball away four times, marking his sixth consecutive game with multiple turnovers.

Donaldson steps up late

Donaldson was quiet for most of the game. At the five-minute mark, he had just five points.

But with the Hurricanes only up by one, Donaldson ignited an extra gear, scoring nine points in the game’s final stretch to lead UM to victory. He also set up the game’s clinching basket, lobbing a pass to cutting Ernest Udeh Jr., who flushed away the dunk to give the Hurricanes a six-point lead with 30 seconds left.

Sluggish first half on offense

Miami’s offense struggled in the first half, shooting only 41.4% from the field and 30% from deep. It also turned the ball over eight times. Four of those turnovers were during the last five minutes of the half.

Now granted, UM did find an offensive rhythm in the first half, scoring 40 points on a 64% clip from the field. But slow starts will come back to bite the Hurricanes in their next four games – all of which are against opponents ranked in the top 60 of the NET.

Difficult stretch ahead

February is the make-or-break month for college basketball teams around the nation. For the Hurricanes, who entered Saturday’s game against Boston College squarely on the bubble, February will decide their postseason destiny. 

After Monday’s matchup with the Tar Heels, Miami will travel to play North Carolina State, head back home to face Virginia Tech and then play on the road once again versus No. 18 Virginia.

Winning two of these four games against potential tournament teams would set up the Hurricanes well, as their final stretch of the season thereafter is more manageable.

Is North Carolina a must-win game?

No, it’s not. But a win over the Tar Heels would greatly boost Miami’s tournament résumé, which lacks marquee wins.

As it currently stands, Miami has just two Quadrant 1 wins. These two wins are at risk, however, of diminishing in quality. Syracuse (No. 69) and Wake Forest (No. 70) both lost on Saturday, and if both teams were to drop below the top 75 in the NET, the Hurricanes would be left without a Quad 1 win.

North Carolina, entering Saturday, ranks No. 27 in the NET, which is a resource that the tournament committee uses on Selection Sunday to craft the NCAA tournament field.