The University of Miami men’s basketball team edged Pittsburgh, 79-73, Tuesday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum to begin ACC Tournament action.
The No. 13-seeded Hurricanes, despite playing with only six available scholarship student-athletes, used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the No. 12-seeded Panthers. All five starters scored 12-plus points, led by 20 from sophomore guard Isaiah Wong.
“I’m just really proud of our guys for the energy and effort they brought to the game,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “They played with a great deal of confidence. They executed the game plan extremely well. Probably the most impressive thing is they shared the ball so well; we scored 79 points and had 17 assists, which really hasn’t been there all year.”

The Hurricanes used a 19-7 run during which they made 7-of-10 field goals to take a seven-point lead, 31-24, with 4:04 remaining in the first half. Pittsburgh (10-12, 6-10 ACC) pulled back within two, but a jump-shot by Wong in the closing seconds gave Miami (9-16, 4-15 ACC) a 40-36 edge at the break.
Both sides shot well from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes, with the Panthers posting a 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) mark, including a 3-of-4 clip from senior guard Nike Sibande, and the Hurricanes notching 5-of-13 (38.5 percent).
Early in the second half, Pittsburgh went on a 16-8 run during which it made three 3-pointers in under three minutes, to take the lead, 55-52 with 11:42 to play. Miami answered right back with a 10-3 burst to go in front, 62-58, with 5:33 remaining, but the Panthers surged back 66-64, with 3:36 on the clock.

Once again, though, the Hurricanes countered. Miami scored nine straight points—three each from Wong, redshirt senior center Nysier Brooks and redshirt senior guard Kameron McGusty—and took a game-high seven-point advantage, 73-66, with just 55 seconds to play.
The Panthers did not get any closer than four down the stretch, as Miami held on for the victory. The Hurricanes made five of their seven field-goal attempts and Wong connected on four straight free throws in the last 30 seconds.
Wong, who now co-leads the ACC with 10 20-point games, shot 9-of-10 from the stripe setting a new season high and finishing one shy of his top mark in attempts. Sophomore forward Anthony Walker posted 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds in a career-best 39 minutes, while McGusty also notched 14 points. All of them dished out four assists, tying a career high for Walker.
Senior guard Elijah Olaniyi also recorded 14 points, adding six rebounds and a season-high-tying three assists, while Brooks finished with 12 points and a career-high-tying three steals.
“All five starters really executed their role extremely well,” Larrañaga said. “We got some good interior baskets from Nysier Brooks and Anthony Walker. We had some nice threes from Kam, Isaiah and Elijah.”

Freshman guard Femi Odukale paced the Panthers with a career-high 28 points. He shot 11-of-16 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from deep. Sibande finished with a season-best 24 points, logging a 9-of-15 clip from the field and a 5-of-8 mark beyond the arc. Redshirt sophomore guard Ithiel Horton added 10 points.
Sophomore forward Justin Champagnie, a First Team All-ACC performer who is second in the ACC in scoring and first in rebounding, totaled 10 points and 11 rebounds. However, Miami held him to just 5-of-20 shooting, including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers. He made just three of his first 17 attempts through 37 minutes.
“You’ve got to give Anthony Walker a lot of credit because he was really the only one that guarded him,” Larrañaga said. “Justin Chanmpagnie is a dynamic player offensively. He can do a lot of different things. He’s a terrific offensive rebounder, but today was not his today. Today was our day.”
Free-throw shooting proved to be the difference in the game, as Miami finished 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) to tie a season best in makes. The Hurricanes made 11 of their first 12 attempts from the line. Meanwhile, the Panthers registered a 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) mark at the stripe after opening just 1-of-6.
In addition, Miami had 17 assists, its second-most ever in an ACC Tournament outing, and just six turnovers, while Pittsburgh notched nine assists and 14 turnovers. The Hurricanes logged a 22-6 edge in points off giveaways, as well as 19-4 cushion in fast-break points.
Miami now takes on fifth-seeded Clemson Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., live on ACC Network from the Greensboro Coliseum, in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
To keep up with the University of Miami men’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesHoops on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.