Miami ended its streaks of 23 straight losses to power conference opponents, 20 consecutive in the ACC and 10 in a row this season beating Notre Dame 63-57 on Saturday night at the Watsco Center. The win is the first for Miami since Bill Courtney was named interim coach replacing Jim Larranaga on Dec. 26.
Miami had to rally late to earn the win over Notre Dame. The Hurricanes scored the final six points of the game in the final 3:21 and held the Fighting Irish scoreless in the last 3:40. Notre Dame led by as many as 13, 40-27, with 17:25 left in the second half. Miami outscored Notre Dame 36-17 the rest of the way,
Notre Dame led 36-25 at halftime before Miami rallied. Matthew Cleveland continued his hot play. Cleveland led Miami with 21 points on 9-15 from the floor and had seven rebounds. Lynn Kidd scored 15 and Brandon Johnson had arguably his best game for Miami with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Miami had one of its best defensive performances of the season. Notre Dame scored a season low versus Miami and their 42.6 percent shooting from the field was the fourth lowest this season against the Hurricanes. Miami shot 46.0 percent from the floor in the win.
Notre Dame had a chance to cut the Miami lead to one with 11 seconds left. Miami fouled Matt Allocco on a 3-point attempt. Alloco missed all three free throws and Notre Dame missed an opportunity to be able to tie or win the game on their next possession.
Cleveland was fouled after Alloco's misses and Miami made both free throws for the final margin. Notre Dame finished the game making only two of its nine free throw attempts. Miami was 13-17 from the line. Free throws played a huge role in Miami earning its first ACC win since Feb. 3, 2024.
Miami will have a week off before playing at resurgent Louisville on Saturday. Louisville had its 10-game winning streak snapped on Saturday in a 77-70 loss at Georgia Tech. The Cardinals are 16-6 overall and 9-2 in the ACC after being one of the worst teams in the conference in the last few seasons.