Miami's turnaround under Jai Lucas now has the Hurricanes one win from playing for an ACC tournament championship. The No. 3 seed beat No. 24 Louisville 78-73 on Thursday in Charlotte, moving to 25-7 on the season and advancing to Friday night's semifinal against No. 10 Virginia.
It is Miami's first trip to the ACC semifinals since 2023, and suddenly a team that was picked eighth in the ACC preseason poll is now 40 minutes from the title game.Â
With a win on Friday, Miami would play either Duke or Clemson in ACC title game
Louisville had beaten Miami 92-89 in Coral Gables only five days earlier, and the Cardinals were dangerous even without injured freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr.
Miami forced 13 turnovers, turned them into 17 points, held Louisville to 6-of-24 shooting from 3-point range, and made the winning plays late after trailing 38-37 at halftime.
Malik Reneau scored 24 points, including 18 in the second half. Tru Washington added 17 points, Tre Donaldson had 14 points and six assists, and Ernest Udeh Jr. chipped in nine rebounds and three blocks.
Virginia beat NC State 81-74 in the quarterfinals to set up Friday's semifinal, and the Cavaliers already own an 86-83 win over Miami from Feb. 21. That game was tight all the way through, with 14 ties and 12 lead changes, before Chance Mallory sealed it at the foul line in the closing seconds. Virginia shot 58% from the field and 50% from 3 in that meeting.
A win over Virginia would send the Hurricanes to Saturday night's ACC championship game. On the other side of the bracket, Duke survived Florida State by one point, 80-79, and Clemson also won by a score of 80-79 against North Carolina.
Miami would shock most people if they can finish off this ACC tournament run, but anything can happen when it comes to college basketball in the month of March.