On the eve of Miami making its first Final Four appearance, the quiet conversations going through the team hotel didn’t revolve around all that the Hurricanes had accomplished this season. Instead, they talked about what happened to bring the last season to a close.
The sting of the Elite Eight defeat was fresh for those present. And he made everyone else realize it too.
Jordan Miller of the Hurricanes said, “This loss stayed with me for a really long time.” “It doesn’t go away, and the fact that we had the opportunity to come back and make amends, get it right, that’s what kept me going.”
Miller had a stellar performance against second-seeded Texas in the Midwest Regional on Sunday. Along with Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Isaiah Wong and March dynamo Nigel Pack, Miller led the Hurricanes to rout a 13-point second-half deficit for an 88–81 victory that clinched that long-awaited trip to the national semifinals. Achieved it.
“With how much we fought to get back in this game, especially on a stage like this, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Pack, one of Miami’s newcomers. “I know how much these guys wanted to win this game, especially after being here last year and losing the Elite Eight, and now to be able to make it to the Final Four is something special.”
Miller finished with 27 points, shooting 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the foul line, while Wong scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half against the Longhorns, the top remaining seed in the topsy-turvy . NCAA Tournament.
Now, the No. 5 seed Hurricanes (29-7) have a date with No. 4 seed UConn on Saturday night in Houston. Two more Final Four newcomers, fifth-seeded San Diego State and No. 9-seeded Florida Atlantic, would play in the other national semifinals.
This is the first time since seeding began in 1979 that no team better than No. 4 has made the Final Four, so perhaps it’s fitting that Miami coach Jim Larranaga is involved. He took George Mason there as an 11 seed 17 years ago.
“Nobody wanted to go home,” said Miller, coincidentally a George Mason transfer, who joined Duke’s Christian Laettner as the only players since 1960 to score from the field and foul line in an NCAA tourney game. Combined were about to go 20 for 20. “We came together. We stayed together We showed really good persistence and will-will to just want to get there.
After Miami climbed back from a 64–51 deficit with 13:22 to play, the game was tied at 79-all when Norchad Omier was fouled by the Longhorns’ Brock Cunningham while going for a loose ball. He made both foul shots to give the Hurricanes the lead, then stole the ball from Texas star Marcus Carr on the other end, and Wong made more free throws with 34 seconds remaining to put them ahead for good.
Miller kept hitting errant shots down the stretch to ice the Midwest Region title for the Hurricanes.
Voaga Poplar scored 16 points, and the Pack followed his virtuoso performance with 15 points against top-seeded Houston, the same school that once completely swept the hoops on the game’s biggest stage in the 1970s. had dropped.
“You feel good when your players meet the goals you set before the season,” Larrañaga said.
Carr led the Longhorns (29–9) with 17 points, although he was bothered by a hamstring injury late in the game. Timmy Allen added 16 and Sir Jabari Rice added 15 in a season finale that began with the firing of Chris Beard over domestic violence allegations, who were later fired, and with interim coach Rodney Terry consoling a heartbroken team. ended.
Terry said, “Every group I’ve worked with in 32 years of coaching, these are the most truly embodied in terms of staying the course, being a team.” “They were so unselfish as a team, and they gave us everything they had. They really did.
The Longhorns revealed about 90 minutes before tipoff that Dylan DeSu, the Big 12 Tourney MVP and the starting star of the NCAA Tournament, would miss the game with a foot injury. He hurt it in the second round against Penn State and played about 90 seconds in the Sweet 16 against Xavier before seeing out the rest of the game in a walking boot.
Without their 6-foot-9 star, the Longhorns’ dangerous group of deep guards resorted to potshots from the perimeter against Miami’s porous defense. Rice hit two 3’s early, Carr two of his own and the Longhorns stormed out to a 45–37 halftime lead.
On the other end, Texas tried to keep Pack and Wong from continuing their 3-point barrage against Houston.
Pack, who dropped seven 3s in the regional semifinals, didn’t make a single attempt until there were 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half, and his best shot – a looping rainbow as he fell out of bounds – didn’t even count as it went over the backboard.
Wong took as many shots and scored as many points (two) as he had turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The Longhorns’ advantage extended to 13 in the second half, and the tension on the Miami bench remained. At one point, an altercation broke out between Harlond Beverly and Larrañaga, and the 73-year-old coach ejected the backup guard from the game.
Luckily for ‘Cain, Pack and Wong were ready, Poplar and Miller appear to have.
Still trailing 72–64 with about eight minutes to play, Pack and Wong combined with Miller and Omier in a turbocharging 13–3 run to give the Hurricanes a 77–75 lead, which ended early. Minutes later he had his first. When Rice answered at the other end for Texas, Miller calmly made two go-ahead free throws to start a late-game parade at the line.
Carr made a nifty turnaround jumper for Texas to tie the game again, but Miami’s momentum never slowed. Omier made two free throws with a minute left, swiped the ball from Carr on the other end, and Miller and company finished it off.
“We all started out together, keeping that hope alive,” Miller said, “and the way we got it done, I think everybody played really well, and I think it’s really important for this team.” Shows the courtesy of the team.