Virginia Tech wouldn’t go away, so Miami had to take the second-round ACC Tournament game from the Hokies late, pulling away in the final four minutes for a 59-49 win.
With the win, the Hurricanes (21-11, 11-8 ACC) advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals to play #3 seed Notre Dame (26-5, 14-4 ACC) at 9 p.m.
This one was far different from the 82-61 win that Miami posted in Blacksburg just four days ago. UM led 25-19 at the half, but the second half was a slugfest throughout. A jumper by Jalen Hudson gave the Hokies (11-22, 3-17 ACC) a 38-37 lead with 8:47 left, and the ‘Canes were ahead one, 44-43, with 5:04 to go when Davon Reed nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead to four.
Miami closed the game out at the line, hitting on 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:04.