Across the Bracket: No. 5 Seed Miami (FL) Beats Drake, Plays Winner of Indiana vs. Kent State

No. 5 seed Miami (FL) defeated No. 12 seed Drake 63-56 in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 on Friday in Albany, N.Y. The Hurricanes advance to the Round of 32, where they'll face the winner of No. 4 seed Indiana vs. No. 13 seed Kent State.

ALBANY, N.Y. — No. 12 seed Drake gave No. 5 seed Miami (FL) all it could handle on Friday night, but Miami emerged with a 63-56 win in the NCAA Tournament Round of 64 at MVP Arena.

Drake made a strong run at an upset in this game, jumping out to a 30-25 lead in the first half. It looked like the Bulldogs were ready to advance to the next round when they led 55-47 with 5:38 remaining in the game. But in the final five minutes, Miami dug in on the defensive end and Drake's offense fell stagnant. 

Miami closed the game on a 10-0 run in the final three and a half minutes to sneak away with the win. Sophomore guard Nijel Pack led Miami with 21 points on Friday, followed by sophomore guard Wooga Poplar with 15 points and sophomore forward Norchad Omier with 12 points and 14 rebounds. 

Miami won the ACC regular season title with a 15-5 record in conference play before losing to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Junior guard Isaiah Wong led Miami in scoring all season with 16.2 points per game, followed by senior guard Jordan Miller at 15.3 points, Omier with 13.6 points and 9.7 rebounds and Pack with 13.2 points. With Pack, Wong, Miller, Poplar and sophomore guard Bensley Joseph, Miami has five players that shoot above 36 percent from 3-point range.

With this win, Miami advances to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, where it'll face the winner of No. 4 seed Indiana versus No. 12 seed Kent State on Sunday in Albany. Game times will be announced early on Saturday morning. 

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