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North Carolina blasts Miami, 78-53, at #ACCTourney

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north carolina miami accTop seed North Carolina took control with an early second-half run and coasted to a 78-53 win over #9 seed Miami in the 2017 ACC Tournament on Thursday.

UNC (27-6, 15-4 ACC) led 34-29 at the half, and a Kamari Murphy layup had the margin at three moments into the second half, capping a 9-0 Miami run dating back to the closing moments of the first half.

The Tar Heels seized control with a 12-3 run that pushed the lead to 12 on an Isaiah Hicks dunk, and after an Anthony Lawrence three cut the margin back to nine, at 52-43, with 12:38 to go, a 19-4 Carolina run over the next eight minutes salted the game away.

Miami, which had defeated Syracuse, 62-57, in the second round on Wednesday, fell apart in the second half, shooting 30 percent from the floor (9-of-30).

Isaiah Hicks had 19 points to lead North Carolina, which advances to the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday.

The Heels will play the winner of the second game in Thursday’s quarterfinal round pitting #4 seed Louisville and #5 seed Duke.

Miami (21-11, 11-9 ACC) had 21 points from Bruce Brown on 9-of-13 shooting.

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