Miami never trailed in earning its most significant win this season, 75-66 over North Carolina on Tuesday night at the Watsco Center. The win provides Miami with the signature win it has been searching for all season and puts the Hurricanes ahead of North Carolina in the ACC standings.
Miami improves to 19-5 overall and 8-3 all alone in fifth place in the ACC. North Carolina entered Tuesday night 22nd in the NCAA Net Ratings. The previous biggest win for Miami was over Wake Forest who is 11-12 overall and 67th in the NetRatings.
Expect Miami to move up in NCAA Tournament projections. The win over North Carolina is the first for Jai Lucas over a ranked team. North Carolina entered the game 11th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 13th in the USA Today Coaches poll.
Miami got off to a great start, leading 15-6 and stretching the advantage to its biggest lead of the night at 22-12. As they have done throughout the season, Miami leaned on its starters. Malik Reneau led four Hurricanes in double figures with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Ernest Udeh Jr's night
Ernest Udeh Jr. scored his Miami high with 15 points on seven out of eight from the field and matched Reneau with 10 rebounds. Miami led 43-40 at halftime as North Carolina made seven of their 13 three-point shots. North Carolina made one of their 14 three-point shots in the second half.
The key play in the game occurred with 2:07 left. Udeh made his first free throw in a one-and-one. After Udeh missed the second free throw, he grabbed the rebound and made a layup to stretch the lead to 66-60. Tre Donaldson added a key layup with 1:20 left to expand the Miami lead to 69-62.
Miami shot 47 percent to 40 percent for North Carolina. The Hurricanes had a 41-35 rebounding advantage and outscored the Tar Heels 46-28 in the paint. Miami is at North Carolina State on Saturday with another opportunity for a critical win.