Miami Earns Co-ACC Title With 78-76 Victory Over Pittsburgh
Article photo of the Miami versus Pittsburgh postgame celebration; photo credit Liam Willerup.
Any Miami fan that would have been told that Isaiah Wong made one basket against Pittsburgh and the Hurricanes won, would have also laughed at that notion.
It happened. Miami won 78-76 despite a subpar scoring game from its leading scorer.
He was 1 for 9 from the floor, and missed each of his three shots from behind the arc, and scored just 9 points for the game.
The bigger issue was slowing down Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson, as he finished with 24 points. He knocked down a triple with 6:18 remaining to close Miami’s lead to 66-63. From that point forward, it was Miami attempting to fend off a late rally.
Fortunately for the Canes, Wooga Poplar was on fire himself and helped to offset the lapse in scoring from Wong. He hit 6 of 8 from deep and scored 18 points in total, including making 3-point shots at the 5:35 and 3:14 marks of the second half. Each of those made jumpers extended the lead back to six points.
Tripled his career high in triples. What a night for @PoplarNisine!
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) March 5, 2023
👌👌👌👌👌👌 pic.twitter.com/RW8RC6ABeD
It was still Wong – despite his shooting struggles – that made a clutch play for the Canes in the closing moments.
Wong’s rebound and excellent outlet pass to a streaking Jordan Miller led to him throwing down a dunk with 35 seconds remaining. That assist from Wong to Miller ended the scoring for the Hurricanes at 78, and it’s all they would need.
Hinson gave a long 3-point heave with two seconds remaining but to no avail. Miami survived.
The most consistent performer for the Canes was Norchad Omier, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. He also contributed 2 blocks and 3 assists.
With the victory, Miami secured a 15-5 Atlantic Coast Conference record and a tie for first place with Virginia. The Canes will be the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament as well.
The ACC title for the Canes was the first for the program since the 2012-2013 season, and it was also a great moment for head basketball coach Jim Larranaga.
Milestone victory for the program. Milestone victory for Coach L.
— Canes Men’s Basketball (@CanesHoops) March 5, 2023
That’s 2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ at The U! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/XJ28wqQAXS
What a key victory it was. With the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament, Miami earned a double bye that will have them playing on Thursday at 2 p.m. That contest will be against either #8 seed Syracuse or #9 seed Wake Forest, as the two teams will face each other at noon on Wednesday for the right to play against Miami.
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