Miami's road to the NCAA Tournament got more difficult with a 74-68 road loss to NC State.

Miami's signature win of the season came in a 95-82 victory over the Clemson Tigers, who rank inside the top 50 (No. 16) in the RPI.

Miami is 1-4 in Quad 1, 5-1 in Quad 2, 1-1 in Quad 3, and 7-1 in Quad 4.

The Canes could be outside of the NCAA Tournament if Miami doesn't begin to pile on wins. Miami has won three of its last eight games and is trending in the wrong direction if they want to make a third consecutive NCAA Tournament.

In Miami's ten remaining regular season games, five are Quad 1(at Virginia, North Carolina twice - home and away, at Clemson, and vs. Duke), three are Quad 2 (vs. Virginia Tech, at Boston College, and at Florida State), and two are Quad 3 (vs. Georgia Tech and vs. Boston College).

The Hurricanes can ill-afford to lose another Quad 3 game and would do themselves some good by winning three of the five Quad 1 games remaining. The Canes still would likely need a decent showing in the ACC Tournament to secure its place in the big dance.

Miami ranks 66th in the net rankings and remains on the outside of the tournament according to ESPN's Bracketology.

Here are three takeaways from its performance in Raleigh.

Two games ago against Pitt, Nijel Pack was aggressive from the opening tip. Pack took 11 shots, made five, and was two-of-five from three-point range in the first half against the Panthers. He finished with 17 points, but the first-half jolt from Pack was what the Canes needed to control the game.

Against the Wolfpack, it was a different story.

Pack scored zero points and only took one shot from the field in Raleigh. He exploded for 23 points in the second half, shooting 7-13 from the floor, including 3-6 from three. He gave Miami a fighting chance, but if that same aggression were in the first half from Pack, Miami would likely come out with a victory.

Starting guard Wooga Poplar is having an up-and-down season. He shot 36%, 28%, 50%, 53% in his previous four games, and a season-low 18% (3-16) against NC State.

Poplar is the fourth leading scorer on the team with 14.6 per outing, but the fluctuations in his production are what has killed the Hurricanes. He also is tied for the lead in turnovers with Norchad Omier averaging 2.3 per game.

Against Pitt, he did dunk the ball in a game for the first time since his ankle injury against North Florida, but it seems Poplar is indeed not a hundred percent based on his rollercoaster of a season. Hopefully, he can regain full strength in his ankle because his inefficiency costs his team.

Poplar played the most minutes against the Wolfpack (37) and finished with ten points..

Miami recorded 46 rebounds against NC State, the most in league play this season. Omier (14) and Poplar (10) led the way, but six Canes recorded a rebound, and five had at least five boards.

Freshman Paul Djobet was a spark off the bench and contributed with six rebounds, good for fourth on the team. Bensley Joseph had seven rebounds, and Kyshawn George added five.

It wasn't the best shooting night for the Hurricanes (36% from the field, 25% from three), but rebounding kept them in the game. Once Matthew Cleveland returns from injury, the effort on the glass needs to continue if Miami wants to make a push into March Madness.

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