The Miami basketball team will attempt to beat Kansas and head coach Bill Self in the first Elite Eight appearance in school history on Sunday. Miami lost to Self when he was the head coach at Tulsa in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. The seventh-seeded Golden Hurricanes beat the six-seeded Hurricanes 80-71 in the Sweet 16.
Miami advanced to their first regional semifinal in program history in 2000 with a 75-71 first-round win over 11 seed Arkansas and a 75-62 second-round victory over third seed Ohio State. Tulsa advanced with an 89-72 victory over UNLV and a 69-61 win over second-seed Cincinnati who was without star Kenyon Martin.
Miami earned its first NCAA Tournament victory over Lafayette the previous year as the second seed in the South Region. The Hurricanes were upset by 10th seed Purdue 73-63 in the second round. Self also earned his first NCAA Tournament win in 1999. The Golden Hurricanes defeated College of Charleston 62-53 in the first round.
Tulsa lost 97-56 to number one seed Duke in the second round. Miami finished 23-7 overall, 15-3 and second in the Big East in 1999. The Hurricanes had an experienced team returning in 1999-2000. Guard Johnny Hemsley led Miami with 18.1 points per game. Mario Bland and Elton Tyler were the only other double-figure scorers.
In 2000, Miami lost to Bill Self's Tulsa team in the Sweet 16, which was the furthest the Canes had ever advanced in the Tourney. Sunday they get a chance to beat Self's Kansas team for a trip to the Final Four.
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) March 26, 2022
The Miami basketball team struggled in the first half against Tulsa with 13 turnovers as they fell behind 25 to eight. The Hurricanes rallied as they trailed 31 to 25 at halftime. Miami made 10 of their 17 three-point attempts and took a 46-43 lead with 10:35 remaining in the game on a Vernon Jennings three-point shot.
Tulsa regained the lead 45 seconds later. Marcus Hill made a jump shot that was followed up by a Brandon Kurtz drunk off the fast break. Kurtz scored six more points in a Tulsa run that extended the Golden Hurricanes’ lead to 61-50 with 5:21 remaining. The Miami basketball team never got closer than six points.
Current Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton led Miami in 2000. Self was an assistant under Hamilton at Oklahoma State in the 1990s. Hamilton left after the season to coach Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards. Miami appeared in only two NCAA Tournaments after Hamilton left and Jim Larranaga was hired in 2011.
The Hurricanes lost in the first round in 2002 under Perry Clark and the second round in 2008 under Frank Haith. Miami has advanced to its third Sweet 16 under Larranaga and the first Elite Elite in school history. Self has a 52-21 NCAA Tournament record with three Final Fours and one National Championship.
Mario Bland and Jennings led Miami with 17 points in the 2000 loss to Self and Tulsa. Hemsley who averaged 22 points in the first two Miami victories in the 2000 NCAA Tournament finished with 13 on four of 10 shooting. Future NBA player John Salmons was the other Hurricane in double figures with 10.