Miami hangs on late getting critical ACC win at Boston College

Miami broke open a tie game in the final four minutes to earn a critical 74-68 win at Boston College on Saturday. The Hurricanes lost 10-point leads in the first and second halves before earning the win. The key play for Miami occurred when Ernest Udeh Jr. scored on an alley-oop from Tre Donaldson with 30 seconds left in the game.

Miami took a 72-66 lead with the Udeh Jr. dunk and essentially put the game away. Donaldson split four free throw attempts with Boden Kaple of Boston College scoring on put back with two seconds left in between before the final margin.

Donaldson scored 14 points and nearly had a triple-double with eight rebounds and seven assists. Malik Reneau had his 14th game with at least 20 points this season, scoring 23 with eight rebounds, three offensive. True freshman Shelton Henderson scored 19 points and had six rebounds.

Miami was in control for most of the game. Boston College made intermittent runs to get back in the game. Miami led 9-4 before Boston College scored the next six points to take its only lead of the game at 10-9. Miami answered and eventually took its biggest first-half lead, 29-19.

Defense and inside dominance were keys to victory

Miami held Boston College to 40.0 percent from the field and nine out of 28 on three-point attempts. The Hurricanes had a 42-31 rebounding advantage and had a 44-30 edge on points in the paint. Miami shot 51.9 percent from the field.

Donald Hand Jr. led Boston College with 20 points on 6-9 from the field and 4-6 from beyond the arc to lead the Eagles before he fouled out. Kapke scored 18 and Fred Payne scored 11 as the only other Boston College players in double figures.

Miami returns home for its biggest game of the regular season on Tuesday against North Carolina. The Hurricanes entered Saturday with two wins and three losses against the NCAA Net Ratings quadrant one opponents. A win over North Carolina would be a huge boost to the Miami NCAA Tournament resume.