After making four of their first 12 free throw attempts on Friday night, Miami finished 17-29 from the line to ice an 80-66 first-round NCAA Tournament win against Missouri. Miami entered the 310th nationally, making 68.5 percent from the free-throw line. Missouri is 306th, making 68.6 percent of its free throws.
Forward Malik Reneau made eight of his 11 free throws and guard Tru Washington overcame one of six from the floor and one of four on three-point attempts to make six out of his eight free throws to score nine of the 12 points off the bench for Miami.
The missed free throws by Miami kept Missouri in the game. Missouri finished 16 out of 18 from the free-throw line. Miami finished below its season-long free-throw percentage, but finished much closer to its mean than where it started the game, making 33 percent of its free throws.
After falling behind 2-0, Miami did not trail again until Missouri took a 54-52 lead in the second half. Miami answered Missouri by scoring the next 11 points. Washington made both of the Miami free throw attempts during the run by the Hurricanes to regain the lead.
Mark Mitchell of Missouri made a three-point shot to cut the Miami lead to 63-57. Miami began to find its groove from the free-throw line after Mitchell's three-point shot. Freshman Sheton Henderson and Washington split two free throws in the final minute and Reneau made five out of seven from the line in the last four minutes.
Miami has to significantly improve its free throws throughout the game in the second round against Purdue. The Boilermakers are 111th nationally, making 74.3 percent of their free throws. Purdue is a huge step up for Miami in the NCAA Tournament second round on Sunday in St. Louis.