Miami basketball shattered Sweet 16 ceiling in 2022

The Miami basketball team earned its fifth berth to an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal with the 85-69 win over Indiana on Sunday night in Albany, New York. Miami broke through its ceiling in the Sweet 16 in 2022 with a 70-56 victory over Iowa State in the Midwest Regional Semifinals at the United Center in Chicago.

Miami did not earn its first trip to the NCAA Tournament Regional semifinals until 2000 when the sixth-seeded Hurricanes upset third-seed Ohio State 75–62 in the second round. Miami lost 80-71 to Tulsa and up-and-coming head coach Bill Self in the Southeast Regional Semifinals in Austin, Texas.

Miami did not earn another trip to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament until 2013. After winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles, Miami earned the second seed in the East Regional. Miami defeated Illinois 63-59 in the round of 32 to advance to the second regional semifinal in program history.

Marquette overwhelmed Miami in the 2013 East Regional Semifinal taking a 29-16 lead at halftime on its way to a 71-61 win. Miami shot 34.9 percent from the floor and made eight of its 26 three-point attempts. After the game head coach, Jim Larranaga said Miami did not communicate as it had all year.

Three years later Miami was a three-seed in the South Regional. Miami beat 11th-seeded Wichita State 65-57 in the second round. The Hurricanes ran into a buzzsaw in the regional semifinal in Louisville. Villanova who went on to win the 2016 NCAA Championship ousted Miami 92-69 in the South Regional semifinal.

The 2022 Miami team was the most unlikely of the five Hurricanes’ teams to reach the regional semifinals. Miami had to survive late in the first round after nearly blowing a seven-point lead with 44 seconds left to defeat USC 68-66. Miami dominated Auburn and Iowa State to earn a spot in the Midwest Regional final.

In the regional final against Kansas, one of the blue bloods of college basketball, Miami led 35-29 at halftime in the Midwest Regional Final. Kansas dominated the second half to defeat Miami 76-50 on their way to the 2022 National Championship and the second NCAA Tournament win for Self over the Hurricanes.

Miami had to rally from a 55-47 deficit with under five minutes remaining in the 2023 first round to defeat Drake. The Hurricanes had a 16-1 run to finish the game and close the Bulldogs in a 63-57 victory and advance to the second round. In the second round, Miami dominated Indiana in an 85-69 win to reach the Sweet 16.

The 2022 and 2023 runs to the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals are the first time the Miami basketball program has advanced to the Sweet in consecutive years. Miami faces a similar task versus number one seed Houston in Kansas City compared to playing top seed Kansas in the 2022 Midwest Regional Final.

Houston is a 7.5-point favorite over the Miami basketball team on Friday. Miami showed the ability to defeat a much higher-seeded team when they dominated Auburn in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Larranaga said they are a mirror image of Houston in height but will give up a lot of weight to the Cougars.