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CORAL GABLES — Wake Forest had the numbers the inside, but Miami had the answer in Dwayne Collins, and he was the difference in the Hurricanes' 67-66 victory on Saturday at the BankUnited Center.

Collins scored a season-high 23 points, 15 of Miami's 36 first-half points, and had 11 rebounds as the Hurricanes (14-1, 1-1) extended their winning streak to seven games.

"We threw a lot of combinations at him," said Wake Forest center David Weaver who shared defensive responsibilities with Chas McFarland, Tony Woods and Al-Farouq Aminu, "but we just didn't have the right answer."

Collins' backup Reggie Johnson, who attended Winston Salem-Prep, said his teammate did what was expected.

"Dwayne was our horse today," Johnson said, "and we rode him. He played like a man, and it was what coach (Frank Haith) wanted him to do."

Haith agreed with Johnson.

"Dwayne played like an all-league player," Haith said. "He was terrific. We've got to play inside out. We've got to get Dwayne going. That was the plan, and that's got to be the plan every night."

Still, the Deacons (11-3, 1-1) had a chance at the end, but James Dews, who scored the winning basket, got a hand on Ishmael Smith's floater with 3 seconds left. Dews also got the rebound.

"We thought that they would play man-to-man," Smith said, "and they were in a zone. It is still a shot that I should have made. It was a game that we were in position to win and let slip through our hands."

Coach Dino Gaudio, who saw his team's six-game winning streak snapped, would have had the final possession go no other way.

"There is no one else that I would rather have taken that one," Gaudio said. "He has made a lot of winning shots for us.

"I really think the ball kind of snow-coned out of his hand. He was able to regain control of it somehow and get the shot off."

In preparation for the game, Gaudio showed his team 10 situations in previous games where Miami missed the free throw but got the rebound and converted.

After a 19-9 Wake Forest run gave the Deacons their biggest lead of the game at 50-45 with 11:22 to go, Miami answered by cutting it to 54-53 on two Malcolm Grant free throws with 9:38 left.

The next two sequences turned the game.

Durand Scott missed the second of two free throws, but Collins got the rebound and scored for a 56-54 Miami lead with 9:03 remaining.

Scott missed the second of two free throws again, but the Deacons lost the rebound out of bounds. On the regained possession, Adrian Thomas hit a 3 pointer for a 60-54 Miami lead with 8:22 left.

"Twice we didn't box out on free throws, and they got five points," Gaudio said, "and on their final possession, Collins missed, and the rebound fell into Dews' hands. Those three possessions were the difference."

From the 60-54 deficit, the Deacons went on an 11-5 run to tie the game at 65-65 on McFarland's free throw with 52 seconds left.

The Hurricanes had three straight possessions with no points before Dews rebounded Collins' miss for the game winner.

Then, Gary Clark, whose 3-point shooting helped the Deacons get back in the game, would missed a good look from the corner that he said, "I should have made."

Aminu, who matched his season low of nine points in a game where he said "the shots just weren't falling," got the rebound. His jumper was blocked by Collins.

"It was a good block, but it was risky," Collins said.

Wake Forest got the rebound for one final shot, but Smith, who has delivered in the past, couldn't do it this time.

"Winning on the road in the ACC is no joke," Clark said. "You have to win your home games and hope to steal a couple on the road. We could have stolen this one."

Weaver said the reasons were simple.

"You have to take care of the details to win," Weaver said. "We made free throws, but we didn't take care of the ball or box out. That's where we lost in addition to not having enough answers for Collins."

WAKE FOREST (11-3) — Aminu 3-12 3-3 9, Weaver 2-4 2-2 6, Smith 5-13 1-1 11, Harris 1-6 5-5 8, Williams 7-10 3-4 17, Clark 3-6 0-0 9, McFarland 0-5 4-6 4, Stewart 0-2 2-4 2, Woods 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 20-25 66.

MIAMI (15-1) — McGowan 0-1 0-0 0, Collins 9-12 5-9 23, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Grant 4-10 3-3 14, Dews 3-8 0-0 6, Scott 4-7 2-4 10, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Adams 0-1 0-0 0, Thomas 3-6 0-0 9, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Gamble 2-5 1-1 5. Totals 25-54 11-17 67.

Halftime—Miami 36-31.
3-point goals—Wake Forest 4-15 (Clark 3-4, Harris 1-4, Stewart 0-1, Aminu 0-1, Weaver 0-1, Smith 0-2, Williams 0-2), Miami 6-19 (Thomas 3-6, Grant 3-6, Adams 0-1, Jones 0-1, Dews 0-5).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Wake Forest 35 (Aminu 12), Miami 36 (Collins 11).
Assists—Wake Forest 9 (Smith 7), Miami 14 (Grant 6).
Total fouls—Wake Forest 17, Miami 18.
A—5,537.