Miami basketball survives second half Wake Forest surge in ACC Tournament
Wake Forest outscored the Miami basketball team 29-13 in the final 9:51 but the Hurricanes survived after a halfcourt shot at the buzzer missed to advance 74-72 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday afternoon. Miami had to survive late after nearly surrendering a big lead which has occurred far too often this season.
The Miami basketball team was locked in defensively for the first 10 minutes plus of the second half. The Hurricanes began the second half with a 27-14 run to build their 34-29 lead to 61-43 with 9:51 remaining in the second half. An Isaiah Wong jumper in the last stretched the Miami lead to 73-66 with 49 seconds remaining.
Jordan Miller and Wooga Poplar missed the front end of one-and-ones in the final 23 seconds. Cameron Hildreth made a three-point shot with seven seconds left in between the misses by Miller and Poplar to cut the Wake Forest deficit to two points. Miami had an outstanding defensive possession before the Hildreth shot.
Miami forced Wake Forest to burn 16 seconds on the clock before Hildreth got Wake Forest within two. Miller led Miami with 18 points and had nine rebounds, five assists and two steals. Wong scored 17 with three rebounds and five assists and Omier had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Tyree Appleby had 24 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals before fouling out in the final minute. Miami shot 53 percent from the floor and held Wake Forest to 41 percent shooting. The Hurricanes had big advantages with an 18 to six edge in points off turnovers and 42 to 30 in points in the paint.
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Miami led for 32:36 to just 3:45 for Wake Forest. The Hurricanes improve to 25-6 with the win. Miami plays Duke who crushed Pittsburgh 96-69 in a game they held the lead the entire game. Miami and Duke split the two games they played this season. The first ACC Tournament semifinal will tipoff at 7 PM. ET on ESPN or ESPN 2.