Miami broke Virginia Tech’s heart back in January in Blacksburg with a buzzer-beater. On Sunday, the Hokies returned the favor in South Beach.
Needing a Quadrant 1 win to boost their resume, Tech earned a miraculous late comeback victory over the Canes, winning 71-70 on a clutch Darius Maddox three-pointer.
It was back on Jan. 26 when Miami beat the Hokies on a half-court buzzer beater, with Tech falling to 2-7 in conference, resting dead last in the ACC. Since then, Tech has won eight of nine to move to 10-8 in the conference, needing a mini-miracle in Miami to pull it off.
With 1:42 to go, Tech was down 67-59 and surely on its way to a painful defeat. Tech outscored Miami 12-3 the rest of the way.
Seven of those points came from Sean Pedulla, there was a dunk by Keve Aluma, and then down by two with 17.8 seconds to go, Mike Young’s team forced a turnover as Hunter Cattoor got a tip on the in-bounds pass, with the ball falling to Maddox. He caught the ball, quickly stepped behind the three-point line and drilled the game-winning shot with a hand in his face.
Tech finished the game shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 29.2 from deep. The Hokies outrebounded Miami 31-22. Tech blew a nine-point lead in the first half with Miami blowing an eight-point lead in the second half.
The Hokies managed to win despite committing a season-high 18 turnovers.
Aluma led the Hokies with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Pedulla had 17. Maddox scored 13 on the night, and Cattoor added 10.
Tech returns to the court on Tuesday night against Louisville at 9 p.m.
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