Miami survived a scare as the 2023 ACC Tournament's top seed Friday, using great guard play and a bruising inside game to outlast Wake Forest 74-72. The Hurricanes will advance to Friday's semifinals where they will face Pitt or Duke at 7 p.m.
Miami had their hands full over the last 8 minutes of the game, as they saw Wake fight back to whittle away an 18-point Hurricane advantage.
Wake fought back late and saw a Davien Willamson jumper at the buzzer fall short, missing a chance for a game winner two days in a row.
Both teams started the game ice cold and fighting turnovers as Miami led 4-3 early behind an Isaiah Wong jumper at the 15:24 mark.
The Hurricane defense bothered Wake early, as the Demon Deacons went 5:37 without any field goals on 0-8 shooting.
Wake fought back on consecutive baskets by Cameron Hildreth and Matthew Marsh to tie the game at 10-10 at 11:08. Miami kept it close during that stretch, outrebounded Wake 12-8.
Wake's Tyree Appleby scored his first basket at 7:17 to bring the Demon Deacons within 3 points at 19-16. The Hurricanes built that slim advantage with outside shooting from Jordan Miller and Harlond Beverly.
Appleby tied the contest at 21-21 with a 3-pointer at 5:28. MIller and Norchad Omier brought the Canes back with two steals followed by transition baskets to put Miami back ahead 25-21.
Williamson, the hero of Wednesday's opening win over Syracuse, nailed a 3-pointer off an Appleby assist to bring Wake within 30-28 with 1:21 left in the first half.
Miami led 34-29 at the half. Miller had 13 points, 6 rebounds and Wong, 8 points, led the way. Appleby was Wake's leading scorer at the break with 9. The big bodies inside paid off for Miami as they outrebounded Wake inside 20-14.
The Hurricanes expanded their lead early in the second half, going up 44-33 after a 3-pointer by Nijel Pack, capping an 8-0 run over 1:08. A Bensley Joseph 3-pointer at 14:21 left put the Canes up 52-38.
Wake Forest went on a 7-0 run at the 6:52 mark, cutting the Miami advantage to 61-50 after a Williamson basket. A Bobi Kilintman 3-pointer with 4:51 left brought Wake to within 65-56.
The Deacons made things interesting in the last 4 minutes, using some Miami misses as opportunities to drive to the basket and get to the free throw line. Hildreth hit two free throws at 3:59 to get Wake within 7.
A Hildreth jumper following a Miami miss got Wake within 5, trailing 71-66 with :59 remaining. A Hildreth 3-pointer cut it to 74-72 with 2 seconds left.
Miami was physical inside to close things out, out rebounding the Demon Deacons 38-34 to help secure the win.
MIller led the way for the Hurricanes with 18 points and five assists. Wong finished with 17 points on 7-10 shooting.
Appleby led Wake with 24 points and 5 rebounds,
The Hurricanes finished the day shooting 53 percent, going 31-59 from the field.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.