Drama 101: Hurricanes Hold On To Beat USC

The University of Miami men’s basketball team won a thrilling 68-66 NCAA Tournament first-round matchup Friday evening against seventh-seeded USC.

The No. 10-seeded Hurricanes took a 13-point first-half lead on the Trojans, ranked No. 21/22, and withstood a 17-point turnaround that saw USC take a four-point second-half edge. With the score even and just three seconds to go, sixth-year redshirt senior guard Charlie Moore calmly sank a pair of free throws to give Miami (24-10, 14-6 ACC) its first postseason victory since 2016.

Third-year sophomore guard Isaiah Wong scored a game-high 22 points, including each of the first 13, for the Hurricanes at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

“We played a great first half, got up by 11 [at the break]. We forced turnovers. We played exactly like we hoped we’d play,” Miami head coach Jim Larrañaga said. “And then in the second half, Southern Cal made some adjustments. They actually changed their starting lineup to start the second half. They got off to a great start and they ended up taking the lead, but our guys never give up and they kept plugging away. We had some guys off the bench who stepped in and gave us quality minutes. We shot 1-for-14 from three, but still won the game because we took care of the basketball. We only had three turnovers in a 40-minute game; that really helps.”

The Hurricanes held USC (26-8, 14-6 P12) scoreless for the first 3:14, as the Trojans missed their first four shots, en route to a 2-of-10 start from the floor. Miami began 1-of-9 at the other end.

Wong scored all of the Hurricanes’ 13 points through eight-plus minutes, shooting 5-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the line while his teammates began 0-of-8 on field goals. The Trojans, however went on an 8-3 run to take a 14-13 edge, their first lead, with exactly nine minutes on the clock.

The Hurricanes answered with a 16-2 burst, sparked by 10 straight points, in 5:42 to turn a one-point deficit into a 13-point lead, 29-16, with 3:03 on the clock. USC went 7:02 without a field goal until making a jump-shot with 1:59 to go in the frame. Miami eventually took an 11-point cushion, 31-20, into the locker room, with USC tying the lowest first-half point total by any Hurricane foe this year.

Despite shooting 0-of-8 from 3-point range through 20 minutes, its first half of the year without a long-range make, Miami held USC to a 29.7 percent clip (8-of-27) from the floor and forced 12 turnovers, while committing just one.

The Trojans scored 17 points in the first 5:18 coming out of the break, including using a 12-0 run in just 3:16 to take a 37-33 edge with 14:42 remaining, as Miami went scoreless for 4:43. A personal 5-0 run from Wong then put the Hurricanes back ahead, 38-37, with 13:53 to play.

After conceding the lead soon thereafter, Miami used a 7-0 run in 2:03 to take a 47-42 advantage with 9:05 left. The Trojans then countered with a 7-1 burst to go up, 49-48, with 7:12 to go. After the sides exchanged baskets, Moore hit the Hurricanes’ first and only 3-pointer with 5:47 on the clock to give his team a 53-51 edge.

USC responded with three points in a row, going in front, 54-53, with 4:51 remaining, but then the Hurricanes began to retake control. They went on a 12-4 run, capped with six straight points in 68 seconds to build a seven-point edge, 65-58, with 44 ticks left after a pair of free throws by freshman guard Bensley Joseph.

The Trojans once again responded, as senior guard Drew Peterson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, sandwiched around a Miami turnover to trim the deficit to one, 65-64, with 25.3 seconds left. Following a free throw by sixth-year redshirt senior forward Sam Waardenburg to double the lead a second later, Peterson leveled the score at 66 with 14.2 seconds left, capping a personal 8-1 run in just 20 seconds.

At the other end, Moore drove to the rim, got fouled with three ticks to play and hit both his free throws. Peterson’s last-second half-court shot missed the mark, sending the Hurricanes into celebration.

“All is well that ends well. I’m just so happy,” Larrañaga said. “When you get guys like Charlie Moore and Jordan Miller who transfer in, you just hope that it’s a good experience for them. The other guys who have been here for a long time, they know what our program has been about.”

Comments

[YooperCane]

Cardiac Canes almost sent me into cardiac arrest, lol! Go canes!

[roachcane77]

Whew!
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

[Tim Adair]

It's one series of heart attack games from this team. Love this squad.

We're playing with house money. Let's go take down Auburn.

[MLALUMNI1970]

Go Canes! I see that the game time has changed. Now it’s Sunday night. Right????

[orange 'n green in the vein]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/33540294/usc-coach-andy-enfield-says-wrong-call-cost-trojans-first-round-win-vs-miami-ncaa-tournament

Take notes Andy, you crying loser, when the refs didn't call a foul committed on Charlie Moore dribbling past the attempted double team and instead let your defender hip check him out of bounds in a non-legal defensive position, that allowed you to hit that second three consecutively and not pull only one more closer on the score board. So if they had whistled the obvious foul there it's now likely a four point, one possession game, instead of the two point final margin, and you can sink the three and still lose the game anyway when Miami doesn't foul the shooter still. Being a whiny loser school in a shallow "power" conference sure helped Carroll pretend he was building something special for a short while in Los Angeles, in what now counts as forever and a day ago again, but it also ensured that Gonzaga and the WCC lapped your program and its conference in the meantime while you keep crying about being robbed when you were helped by the refs to even stay in the game in the first place. The tears are hilarious though, keep shedding them for my amusement.

Only #10 seed to win the first round game, guess The Pimp still knows a thing or two about coaching basketball?

[JCane]

Anyone notice that 4 out of 5 ACC teams are still playing? 4 out of 32 ain't bad for a "weak" basketball conference. As for the USC coach, what OGV said and then some...Auburn will be tough, but since they have list 4 of their last 10 one can hope.

[Terrance M Sullivan]

Preach JCane and OGV

[Sarasota 'cane]

JCane I was just thinking watching the UNC game that the ACC teams may have been underrated as a result of tougher inter-conference play. We’ll find out tomorrow night in Prime Time!

Go ‘canes!

[VA Cane]

Close one for the Canes, but all that matters is the final score. I think it has gotten harder to call a lot of fouls cause guys are so big fast and strong....I like to let them play approach....charge vs block is a toss up many times...I say dont call it unless its obvious.

One thing...get rid of those ugly uniforms....orange is ugly lettering ugly cut is ugly...can we not afford something that looks better....dark green classic block lettering...and just a U works for me...that M in Miami is so ugly...keep winning guys...and ladies too...women got a tough draw but give em hell girls!!!

[AeroCane]

Canes beat Clemson 4-1 with freshman pitcher Ligdon pitching a very strong 5 plus innings and Romero with some key rbi’s

[AeroCane]

Today Clemson up 12-2
I was hoping for the sweep but that’s too much to ask of dimare and this team

[nemo2020]

Lady Canes lose to SC 49-33.

[nemo2020]

Can 2023 be Miami’s Best Recruiting Class in Recent History?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/can-2023-be-miami-s-best-recruiting-class-in-recent-history/ar-AAVgGt7?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531

[AeroCane]

Canes lose to Clemson 20-5
I’ve never seen these type of blowouts before dimare became coach
Embarrassing

[VA Cane]

Great article Nemo....thanks for posting it here...lots of great players mentioned...we wont get them all...but Mario has a far better understanding that the FCCF (Five Coach Cluster F**k) we had before him its a tough thing...but like a tree you got to have roots...Mario understands relationships especially at the HS level and the camp thing...got to be in 110%...he is...it gives one a reason to hope for a nice change!!!!!

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Waardenburg has to win his match up this last 20 minutes and needs to offensively provide some front-court threat to move on.

Knocking down some threes as a team is going to decide who wins this second half and advances.

[Harry Miller]

Canes playing lights out. Hope they can keep it up. 53 t0 43 11{44 to go.

[Sarasota 'cane]

Step on their necks!

Go ‘canes!

[VA Cane]

They have been really great...gotta give Coach L a lot of credit...kids too...really nice effort...gotta hold on here under 2 to go!!!

[VA Cane]

Nice close out...looks like baseball and football have got a lot to live up to with what these kids have done. He is a teacher...they did not turn it over and they handled all the challenges!!!
Nice win good team effort!!!

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Good thing they saved all that money on The Pimp extension by signing it before they take a shot at a lower seeded team to make the Elite Eight. Iowa State's depth will make running them less effective at making fatigue a factor but the match up is more favorable for the Hurricanes overall.

Great weekend to be a Miami Hurricane this one!

[Sarasota 'cane]

The Hurricanes will play the Cyclones in a Windy City matchup!

Go ‘canes!

[86Cane]

So this Larranaga cowboy, in his very first rodeo, is riding pretty well. I like it. Yeah, I like it a lot. Ride on cowboy, ride on!

[JCane]

Great hustle and D, their trademark. 10 UM vs 11 ISU, Hurricanes vs. Cyclones. Winner gets winner of 1 vs 4, KU vs. Providence, given that side of the bracket holding. Would love to see the pimp coaching a few more games this season. Like the favorable matchup, too, but Auburn picked the wrong part of the season to slump. ISU is playing good ball.

[MLALUMNI1970]

So thrilled that our Canes beat Auburn! And, we were the underdog by 7.5 points. So very proud of those young men, that we call The Miami Hurricanes.
Flew from Michigan to Florida today. Long day for this old broad, but what a happy ending, indeed.
Now we have a week’s rest, I guess. But, I don’t know about all of you, but I am exhausted!
Go Canes, and Sweet Sixteen Dreams!!!

[Terrance Sullivan]

Sunday Night Miami Hurricanes Delight!

[HerbieIbis]

Dam Aero, all Clemson did wrong today was miss an extra point.

[AST]

L is putting on coaching clinic. Thrilling ride. Love this Bball team.

[CGNC]

Sweet 16 bound! Nice!. However, every time I watch them they lose, so I will continue to support the team by not watching lol

[JCane]

Should be a fun game on Friday between 2 aggressive defensively minded teams.

[58 Straight]

NEW BLOG IS UP!