Matthew Cleveland scored 32 points and Brandon Johnson provided the game-winner on a dunk with one second left in a 72-70 Miami win over North Carolina State in the final game of the season on Saturday. Miami and North Carolina State conclude their seasons being two of the three teams not qualified to play in the ACC Tournament.
The Johnson game-winner was on rebound off of a Cleveland miss. Cleveland was 11-24 from the field, 2-5 on three-point attempts and 8-9 from the free throw line with five rebounds, one assist and four blocks. Johnson had 10 points and 10 rebounds which was his third double-double this season and second consecutively.
Miami trailed by 13 points 46 seconds into the second half. The Hurricanes led for only 36 seconds on Saturday and trailed for 35:42. Before the Johnson rebound dunk, the last Miami lead was 2-1 2:06 into the game. Freshman guard Jalil Bethea was the only other Miami player in double figures with 10 points.
North Carolina State was led by Dontrez Styles with 24 points on 8-13 from the field, 4-7 on threes and 4-6 from the field with three rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Paul McNeil Jr. scored 14 and Huntley-Hatfield had 10 points and six rebounds for North Carolina State.
Miami trailed 41-31 at halftime and North Carolina State extended their lead 46 seconds into the second half on a Styles three-point shot. Miami closed the game on a 10-0 run. North Carolina State led 70-62 with 3:41 left in the game. Four different Miami players scored during the game-closing run.
Divine Ugochukwu had a layup with 3:16 left to cut the deficit to 70-64. A Cleveland three-point shot with 2:40 remaining brought Miami within three at 70-67. A.J. Staton-McCray tied the game with a three-point shot with 1:53 remaining that eventually set up the game-winner by Johnson.
Miami ends the season 7-24. The win over North Carolina State on Saturday avoided Miami setting the program record for most losses in a single season. Duke assistant coach Jai Lucas will be formally introduced as the new Miami head coach during a press conference scheduled for Monday.