Miami fought off a Syracuse comeback in a 62-57 win in the second round of the 2017 ACC Tournament on Wednesday.
The ‘Canes (21-10, 11-8 ACC) led 36-28 at the half, but shot just 30 percent (9-of-30) from the floor in the second half.
Syracuse (18-14, 10-9 ACC) briefly led in the second half, after a Tyus Battle three-pointer put the Orange on top 41-40 with 12:23 to go.
Miami reserve guard D.J. Vasiljevic hit back-to-back threes to jumpstart an 8-0 UM run. ‘Cuse rallied again to within 53-52 on a short jumper by Andrew White III with 4:06 left.
A pair of Kamari Murphy dunks pushed the Miami advantage to five, and Syracuse would go scoreless for more than three minutes, before a John Gillon three with 39.8 seconds left would make it a two-point game.
It was still two after a Ja’Quan Newton layup and Tyler Lydon dunk. Davon Reed hit the first of a one-and-one free throw with 7.7 seconds left, but missed the second, leaving the door open for the Orange.
But Gillon missed on a contested, double-clutch three with three seconds left, and Miami closed it out with a pair of free throws by Bruce Brown with four-tenths of a second on the clock.
Murphy had 16 points and 10 rebounds for UM, which had a 31-26 advantage on the boards.
White had 22 points for Syracuse, which got five points and a game-high 12 rebounds from Lydon.
Miami advances to face top seed North Carolina (26-6, 14-4 ACC) on Thursday in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
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